Kenya is set to harness technology in order to boost insurance penetration in the country. This announcement was contained in a statement by the CEO of Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), Godfrey Kiptum, on Monday to newsmen in Nairobi.
Kiptum said the use of Internet of things, blockchain, Big Data, application programming interface, machine learning and artificial intelligence could help tackle the problem of low uptake of insurance products in the country.
“Harnessing technology is seen as one of the levers we can use to boost insurance penetration in Kenya,” Kiptum said.
According to the insurance regulator, less than three per cent of the population has insurance.
Kiptum also noted that the government was prioritizing the increasing population with access to insurance because as a key pillar of financial inclusion.
He affirmed that many Kenyans believed they were not insurable, hence the need to encourage and motivate local innovators to come up with more solutions to meet the needs of low-income persons.
According to Kiptum, making provision for affordable insurance was one way of lifting low-income households out of poverty through micro-insurance, which was an effective risk mitigation tool and an essential component for social protection.