Stanbic takes insurance awareness drive to Mwanza streets

Mwanza. Stanbic Bank Tanzania has stepped up its push for greater public understanding of insurance, taking an insurance awareness clinic directly to the streets of Mwanza as part of broader efforts to promote financial protection and resilience.

Held outside the bank’s Nyerere Road branch, the outreach brought insurance education closer to members of the public, small business owners and working professionals, many of whom sought guidance on how insurance can help protect their health, businesses, property and financial stability.

The initiative signals Stanbic’s growing positioning not only as a financial services provider, but also as a key voice in expanding understanding of risk management and insurance relevance in everyday life.

Speaking during the clinic, Janeth Mbaruku, Manager Bancassurance, Stanbic Bank Tanzania, said there is still a significant gap in public understanding of insurance, despite its importance in helping individuals and businesses withstand unexpected setbacks. “Many people still see insurance as something complicated, expensive or only necessary after something has gone wrong. What we are doing through this clinic is helping people understand that insurance is part of being financially prepared and protecting what matters most,” she said.

She said the Mwanza activation is part of a wider awareness journey that the bank intends to continue building on, following a similar public engagement held in Tanga last year. “This is a continuation of a conversation we started earlier, and we want to keep taking it to more communities. What we saw in Tanga, and now again in Mwanza, is that there is real interest from people who simply need the right information explained in a practical and relatable way,” said Ms. Mbaruku.

She added that the outreach, delivered together with Stanbic’s insurance partners including Britam Insurance Tanzania Limited, Newtan Insurance Company Limited, Alliance Insurance Corporation Limited, Sanlam Allianz General Insurance Tanzania Limited, and Heritage Insurance Company Tanzania Limited, is aimed at helping more Tanzanians make informed decisions around financial protection rather than waiting until losses or emergencies occur.

For many attendees, the clinic offered a rare opportunity to ask direct questions and receive practical explanations on how insurance works and why it matters.

Florence Lugobi, a Mwanza-based businesswoman who attended the clinic, said the session changed how she views insurance, particularly as an entrepreneur exposed to daily business risks. “As business people, we often focus on sales, stock and daily operations, but we do not always stop to think about what would happen if something unexpected occurred. Today’s session has shown me that insurance is not just a formality, it is protection and peace of mind,” she said.

She said more public awareness campaigns of this kind are needed, particularly for small and growing businesses that are often vulnerable to disruption but may not fully understand the value of insurance.

“Many people have never had this information explained properly. When you understand it well, you realize insurance is not for a few people, it is something many of us need in order to plan better and protect what we are working for,” she said.

The Mwanza Insurance clinic reflects a broader shift in how financial institutions are engaging communities, moving beyond product visibility to practical public education around financial security and preparedness.

As insurance uptake remains relatively low compared to the scale of exposure faced by households and businesses, industry players have increasingly pointed to awareness and trust as critical to expanding adoption.

For Stanbic, the bank’s latest Mwanza outreach suggests the next phase of financial inclusion may depend not only on access to services, but also on how well people understand the tools available to protect their progress.