Towards the end of 2012, NAMFISA, in partnership with the Toronto Centre – an international training centre on financial matters – hosted a one-week Microin-surance Supervisor Training Programme in Windhoek.
The training brought together officials from various regulators in the SADC region, where officials learned the importance of promoting financial inclusion in their home jurisdictions, how sound supervisory principles can be applied to encourage inclusiveness in financial markets, the importance of innovation for inclusive financial markets, and the need for supervisors to be adaptable in their licensing and supervisory roles to properly respond with innovative solu-tions.
Microinsurance is a relatively new concept globally and therefore it was im-portant for Namibia and other regulators in the SADC region to understand its dynamics and be able to effectively guide its implementation in their respective countries.
Microinsurance is a mechanism to protect poor/low income people against risk (accident, illness, death in the family, natural disasters, etc.) in exchange for insurance premium payments tailored to their needs, income and level of risk. It is aimed primarily at the developing world´s low-income workers, especially those in the informal economy who tend to be underserved by mainstream commercial and social insurance schemes.
Reports indicate that many people in the low income categories have no finan-cial protection or savings to fall back on, especially when their bread winner dies, when a parent or child is hospitalised, or when their house is destroyed by some kind of calamity.
We have read countless incidents of people being driven deeper into poverty because of the absence of microinsurance and I am therefore very pleased that
we, as the regulator of financial institutions, were exposed to the intricacies of microinsurance and how it can be introduced in our country.
The training workshop took place to facilitate the phasing in of microinsurance into the Namibian market. Since the training, NAMFISA has been preparing to engage the industry for the introduction of microinsurance in Namibia.
I am very excited at the prospect of introducing microinsurance as it will have a direct and positive impact on the most vulnerable people of our society.
In the meantime, this edition of the Consumer Education Bulletin is packed with information on other forms of insurance, which is a must-read for consumers of financial services and products. I also encourage you to contact our Consumer Education Department should you wish to be enlightened on more specific is-sues. I wish you a happy reading.
Phillip Shiimi
CEO