Hope of insurance growth as Strategis expands to Arusha

Arusha. Strategis Insurance has extended its wings to Arusha, the Northern Tourism Circuit hub, as it seeks to play a key role in achieving the government’s goal of boosting insurance penetration in Tanzania.

Strategis Insurance was one of the first private insurance companies to be registered and licensed by the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (Tira). With its new offices on the ground floor of the Summit Centre along Sokoine Road, the company - which has been operating in the country for almost two decades now - would serve residents of the city and its precincts, thereby increasing the number of Tanzanians accessing insurance products and services from the current 15 percent.

“Only 15 percent of Tanzanians currently use insurance services. Our strategy is that, by the year 2030 we’d have helped to raise this to 50 percent of the population - and, at the same time, increase insurance literacy from the current 30 percent to 80 percent over the same term,” said Mr Zakaria Muyengi., the Tira director for Market Development and Research who was also the chief guest at the launch.

The government was doing everything possible to improve the business climate, he said, calling upon insurance firms to reciprocate by clearing claims lodged by customers promptly. “I also call upon insurers to introduce in the market products that augur well for typical needs of Tanzanians, the likes of small-scale miners, livestock keepers and fsmallholders,” he said. In 2020, Strategis recorded a top-line increase of about 20 percent to become the second largest private insurer in the Tanzanian insurance industry by market share. While maintaining its leadership role in private medical insurance, it also grew the non-medical insurance sub-sector by 40 percent in 2020.

The chief executive officer of Strategis’ Insurance Medical Division - who is also the Group CEO - Dr Flora Minja, said the company was focusing on growing its business portfolio by opening new lines of service, and also deploying technology and innovation in service delivery.

“We thus strive to stay abreast with new technological advances,” she said.

that not only create improved operational efficiency and accuracy in terms of customer information management but also incorporate technological developments in the industry and allow interaction with various stakeholders in real time,” she said.

The company, she said, was committed to universal health insurance coverage agenda, and that it supports the government and industry in the national goal of ensuring at least 50 per cent of the adult population use insurance services by 2030.

The CEO for the Non-Medical Division, Mr Jabir Kigoda, said the company was poised to deliver top-class services in Arusha region, a move that would be beefed up by introduction of various products targeting the tourism industry and other sectors of the economy, including manufacturing and other productive sectors.