As Africa’s insurance sector begins 2026, one clear theme emerges from the continent’s packed conference calendar: sustainability. This is building on the gains made in 2025.
Insurers are increasingly placing sustainability at the heart of strategy, innovation and collaborative initiatives, signalling a decisive shift towards embedding resilience, ESG principles and inclusive practices in the industry.
From flagship summits to regional conferences on inclusive insurance, the lineup of events signals both continuity and escalation of efforts that gained traction in 2025. Collectively, they send a message to insurers, reinsurers, brokers and regulators across Africa that sustainability will remain on the agenda throughout 2026 and beyond.
The year’s sustainability push begins early, with the Africa Sustainable Insurance Summit 2026 scheduled for 4–6 February in Cape Town, South Africa, standing out. Organised under the umbrella of the Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Insurance (NDSI), this summit is the flagship continental gathering that builds on momentum from the 2025 edition — where insurers across Africa reaffirmed commitments to integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into core business practices.
Talk to action
The Cape Town summit explicitly focuses on turning “sustainability commitments into real action” and measurable impact — from climate-smart insurance products to ESG-aligned investment strategies and inclusive microinsurance models that extend protection to underserved communities.
The Summit brings together leaders and changemakers in Africa’s insurance industry under the theme of “Powering pledge into practice integration of sustainability in the African insurance sector.” The idea is to galvanise commitments and accelerate actions on sustainable insurance in Africa.
“The key objectives of the summit are to build awareness and support for sustainable insurance principles, showcase the shift from intention to implementation and integration of sustainable insurance principles, and create a community of practice and offer spaces for networking among African insurance sector players,” say the conveners of the event.
Africa insurers’ increased attention on sustainability is amid climate shocks becoming more frequent and severe while insurance coverage remains low, leaving millions exposed to risk.
With global frameworks like IFRS S1 (general requirements for disclosure of sustainability-related financial information), IFRS S2 (climate-related disclosures) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) gaining ground, African insurers are rethinking how they assess risk, invest capital and design products that promote inclusion and resilience.
Inclusive insurance
Just weeks later, 25–27 March, Lomé, Togo, will host the 11th Africa Regional Conference on Inclusive Insurance (AfCII). While not branded exclusively as a sustainability event, AfCII’s focus on inclusive insurance, which is about expanding coverage to previously excluded populations — is aligned with social aspects of ESG and sustainability.
The conference’s discussions will explore how insurers can innovate and refine business models to increase outreach, affordability and resilience for low-income households and informal workers and reduce the protection gap across the continent.
The AfCII complements the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII). The conference will address topics that are particularly relevant to Togo and other West Africa countries when it comes to boosting insurance uptake.
Emerging trends
Staying on sustainability and emerging issues, Nairobi will in June host the Africa Insurance & Reinsurance Conference 2026, offering another platform for industry professionals to engage on emerging trends.
The AIRC 2026 agenda covers themes such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) integration, inclusive and micro‑insurance growth, climate risk and parametric solutions, regulatory modernisation and the evolution of the reinsurance market — all pointing to the sustainability agenda.
Other sessions at the AIRC will explore data strategy, embedded insurance, cyber resilience, public‑private partnerships and the integration of ESG and sustainability principles into underwriting and investment practices.
The industry will be back to South Africa in July for one of the continent’s premier gatherings: the African Insurance Exchange (AIE) 2026 in Sun City. The event is celebrated for uniting insurers, brokers, and decision-makers in a dynamic environment of collaboration, networking, and forward-looking discourse.
The AIE 2026 will be held under the theme “The Insurance Renaissance: Rebirth. Reinvent. Redefine”, with the programming covering innovation, emerging technologies, operational resilience and market growth. This will complement the sustainability narrative by spotlighting opportunities to harness innovation for inclusive and climate-resilient insurance solutions.
Resilience partners
Under ‘redefine,’ the conveners say this is a call to transform the meaning of insurance in a digital, interconnected, and uncertain world. “It challenges insurers to redefine their role: from transactional providers to trusted partners in resilience, growth and sustainability.”
Taken together, these events demonstrate how sustainability is being woven into the industry’s agenda at every level, ranging from continental flagship summits to regional dialogues about inclusion and industry evolution. This sets the stage for 2026 events to go beyond rhetoric towards collaboration on practical solutions and systemic change.
This early calendar of events also reflects a broader trend of collaboration as essential to advancing sustainable insurance across Africa. Collaboration allows for public-private partnerships, local innovation ecosystems or insurer coalitions committed to shared principles like those articulated by NDSI.
The forward momentum reflected in the 2026 calendar builds on the notable gains that laid the groundwork for the sector’s confidence in 2025. Many insurers and reinsurers continued to roll out sustainability strategies with the focus on narrowing the protection gap across the continent.
The early lineup of events in 2026— with more to come—provides platforms for insurers to deepen commitments, share innovations and scale partnerships that drive impact.
Sustainability agenda beyond Africa
The sustainability momentum reflected in Africa’s 2026 insurance calendar is mirrored well beyond the continent as global insurance and risk forums increasingly centre their agendas on climate resilience, ESG integration and inclusive growth.
For instance, in March, May, September and November 2026, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) Resilience and Sustainability Forum will run as a series of global virtual sessions, bringing together insurers to share practical experiences on embedding sustainability and resilience into insurance strategy and operations. ICMIF launched the event in March 2023 and its continuation this year reflects the ongoing nature of the sustainability journey rather than treating it as a one-off discussion.
Regulatory and policy dimensions will come into focus in April 2026, when the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) Sustainable Finance Conference convenes insurers, regulators and supervisors to examine climate and environmental risk integration, sustainable finance frameworks and consumer protection. While European in scope, the discussions have global relevance as regulatory expectations around climate risk and ESG governance continue to influence insurers worldwide.
In June 2026, sustainability will feature prominently during London Insurance Week, where global insurers and reinsurers gather to address issues such as climate risk, transition pathways and responsible underwriting.
Around the same period, the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Climate and Nature Risk Symposium in June places climate and biodiversity risks firmly within enterprise risk management conversations.
“This two-day, in-person event brings together practitioner, academic and regulatory perspectives to explore how climate and nature risks are evolving and what innovations are needed to build resilience and support the transition,” says GARP.
The global sustainability calendar will in October 2026 see the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII), hosted in Kigali, Rwanda. The event’s focus on expanding insurance access and closing protection gaps highlights the social dimension of sustainability — a theme that resonates strongly with African market priorities.
There will be the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) taking place from 9–20 November in Antalya, Türkiye, bringing together world leaders and climate stakeholders to advance global action on climate mitigation, adaptation and sustainable finance. COP outcomes will shape international policy frameworks that insurers worldwide, including in Africa, will need to align with in their resilience and sustainability strategies.
Dear reader, Africa Ahead will be tracking these and many more events throughout 2026, helping you stay informed and ensure your year is both impactful and sustainably driven.