Association of Ethiopian Insurers (AEI) said that it has received a positive feedback from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) on the establishment of an independent insurance regulatory commission.
Yared Molla, President of Association of Ethiopian Insurers, told Origins Business that, “The Board of our association had discussed with Yinager Dessie (PhD), Governor of the NBE and we received a positive signal from the governor.”
“Dr. Yinager further told us that the proposal will be tabled for NBE’s board,” Yared said, adding that, “He further told us that a survey will be conducted by the World Bank on the importance of the regulatory commission and independent regulators experiences of other countries will too be studied.”
“I hope the process of studying other nations’ experiences is finalized,” he said. “We know that there’s an agreement on the need to have an independent commission and we also demand its speedy implementation on the ground,” said Yared, who’s also CEO of Nyala Insurance Share Company.
“Establishment of the commission could take time as long as it’s a policy matter but our Association has already submitted the roadmap on the benefits of insurance commission,” he said.
He believes that establishing the Commission will have plenty of merits.
“Setting up the commission would have benefits both to the insurers and that of the insured,” he says. If any insurance service user has a complaint on the services provided, he/she can present their case to the independent commission, which will have the mandate to resolve the problem, than going to court, according to Yared.
He mentioned capacity building, crafting of new policies and accelerated specialized insurance industry growth through professional development as the major advantages of commission’s establishment.
Accordingly, the Insurance Supervision Directorate at the NBE is expected to become an independent insurance regulatory body separate from the national bank by evolving into a commission.
For almost a decade now, Ethiopian insurance players have been requesting the government to have an independent regulator separate from the NBE. This is mainly because NBE’s focus is more occupied by banks, and the insurance industry remains marginalized due to a lack of proper attention, incentives, support and close nurturing by the NBE, according to reports.
Meanwhile, a presser has been held on Wednesday at Ellily Hotel. The Presser was mainly related to the Insurance Month focused on “Resilient Insurance Industry a Shield for Ethiopian Economy”.
The insurance month has been co-hosted by GHM & BT Insurance Brokers and SSS Production threby observing GHM’s 25th year’s anniversary.
“The Insurance month will be helpful to raise the awareness on a range of issues of insurance industry,” said Getenesh Hailemariam, CEO of GHM & BT Insurance Brokers during the press briefing.
Getenesh said that awareness level of the on the insurance industry is very low. “During the month of insurance we are planning to penetrate the market and enhance insurance’s share to the gross domestic product (GDP),” she added.
