Saturday, February 8, 2025

Southern African insurance industry converges on Gaborone

The first ever Southern African Insurance conference is kick starting tomorrow (Wednesday) in Gaborone. The conference, which will run under the theme ‘Regional Economic Integration and Sustainability’, is viewed as a strategic approach where all activities in the insurance value chain can be discussed.

“The conference seeks to promote regional economic integration by facilitating creation of a framework for collaboration and cooperation amongst insurance industry bodies,” said Tshepiso Mphahlane, the Conference Coordinator at Sisco Corporate advisors.

Mphahlane said through this conference they seek to provide a platform for dialogue between the insurance industry and southern African development community.

Despite encouraging progress, insurance crime remains one of the costliest crimes in the region.
“It is the responsibility of the insurance industry, law enforcement agencies and anti-insurance organisations to jointly develop strategies aimed at combating fraud and money laundering,” he said.

The conference is expected to be the first step towards this objective.

He said the conference coincides with the launch by United Nations and world’s insurers of Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) at Rio+20 that aim to green the insurance sector and provide insurance tools for risk management in support of environmental, social and economic sustainability.

“The conference presents an opportunity for delegates to discuss the Principles with a view to including sustainable finance in their core business strategies and operations,” said Mphahlane.

Interaction at the conference is expected lay foundation for future SADC committees and insurance bodies at regional level. The conference will discuss educational standards and continuous professional development is addressed holistically with a view to adopting common standards of education and professionalism.

“The Principles for Sustainable Insurance provide global roadmap to develop and expand the innovative risk management and insurance solutions that we need to promote renewable energy, clean water, food security, sustainable cities and disaster-resilient communities,” said the UN Chief, Ban Ki-moon.

He said they have received confirmation from a number of countries that include DRC, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

The conference, which will run for two days, will be held at the Gaborone Sun Hotel.

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