Key players in the African insurance sector recently gathered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF).
But more than just a commemoration, the assembly provided a forum for revisiting the past, taking stock of five decades of contribution to the resilience of the continent’s economies, the development of insurance culture and the transformation of the market. It also provided a platform for laying the foundations for the future of the sector, through reflections on the central theme: ‘FANAF’s 50th anniversary: building the future of African insurance’.
On 17 March 1976, in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, visionary founding fathers launched FANAF at a time when foreign companies, particularly Western ones, dominated the African market.
As a kind of rebellion, their ambition was clear: to reverse the trend and stop the drain of insurance premiums off the continent. But 50 years on, what can we learn from this and how can we look to the future? This question was at the heart of FANAF’s 50th anniversary celebrations, held from 9 to 11 February 2026 in Abidjan.
For the three days, policymakers, regulators, insurers and reinsurers, brokers and general agents, and experts from across the continent and beyond combed through the five decades of the umbrella organisation’s existence and the functioning of the African insurance market. They also engaged in intense discussions on the future of the sector on the continent, focusing on the central theme of the 50th annual assembly.
An inaugural conference on the theme: ‘Insurance and financial sovereignty: Africa facing its transformation challenges?’, panels on sub-themes such as: ‘Fifty years of FANAF serving African development: review and outlook’, ‘Governance and regulation to support development’, ‘New drivers of growth: how to expand the scope of insurance in Africa’, ‘Fifty years of benefits management: transforming the moment of truth into a lever for trust and innovation’, were at the centre of the discussions.
Looking back, all speakers agreed that much progress has been made. With more than 200 member companies of FANAF, the African insurance market is no longer the preserve of foreign companies. Better still, the continent is now home to a host of major insurance and reinsurance groups such as SUNU Assurances, SanlamAllianz, Activa, NSIA Assurances, Coris Assurances, Vista Assurances, Africa Re, CICA-RE, Continental Reinsurance, SEN-RE, and more.
Emergence of national and regional champions
“In its 50 years of existence, FANAF has supported the gradual structuring of African insurance markets. It has promoted the emergence of national and regional champions, while helping to establish insurance as an instrument of trust, protection and stability in our economies,” acknowledged Adama Coulibaly, Ivory Coast’s minister of economy, finance and budget.
In the same vein, outgoing FANAF president César Ekomié Afene said that, far from being an ordinary event, the annual meeting bore the mark of 50 years of collective commitment to building a shared vision for the development of the African insurance market.
Over the past five decades, the African insurance industry has demonstrated its ability to innovate, cover major risks and support the sustainability of African economies, thereby contributing to the continent’s resilience. FANAF has also played a major role in strengthening the technical and operational capacities of industry players and has been actively involved in shaping the market’s legal environment.
The road ahead
But despite these achievements, much remains to be done to boost African insurance and increase its penetration rate, which remains below half the global average of around 7%. To achieve this, especially in an Africa that is currently undergoing economic transformation marked by rapid urbanisation, strong population growth, the rise of the private sector and increased exposure to climate, health, technological and security risks, the tasks and challenges are vast, multiple and multifaceted.
Among other things, the focus on the need to better meet the needs of SMEs, low-income households and the informal sector through microinsurance, climate and agricultural risks, new risks linked to technological transformation and cybersecurity, not to mention strengthening local reinsurance capacities, has to come out strongly.
It is also important to leverage digitalisation to make insurance more accessible. Here, African insurtech companies must play their part in producing solutions adapted to local realities, the delegates stressed. They also highlighted the imperative of paying claims on time in order to change the negative perception that people have of insurance.
Insurance at the heart of the new financial architecture
In short, it is clear that for the next 50 years, insurance must no longer be a peripheral player in the African financial sector.
“In this context, insurance is no longer simply a mechanism for covering risks. It now appears to be a strategic lever for development, a factor of macroeconomic resilience and a key instrument for mobilising long-term savings for investment,” said Ivorian minister Adama Coulibaly, calling for in-depth reflection on the issue of premium retention on the continent.
For the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Sidi Ould Tah, insurance will play a key role in the new financial architecture that Africa needs to finance its development in a sustainable manner.
But in order for insurance to play this key role in financing the continent’s economies, there is an urgent need to further pave the way with a flexible, agile legal framework that facilitates innovation and the creation of new products to adapt to change and best meet the real needs of the population.
This concern was the subject of a General Assembly resolution recommending “the strengthening of the existing advocacy framework with the regulator, aimed at ensuring the continuous adaptation of the regulatory framework in order to better support the growth, inclusion and resilience of the insurance sector within the FANAF zone.”
Gender mainstreaming
The three days of discussions also revealed that gender mainstreaming is a lever for growth in the insurance market. The challenges are multi-faceted: increasing the number of women in companies, in positions of responsibility and in management bodies, and improving women’s access to insurance products.
For this reason, a recommendation was made to the FANAF executive board to make the FANAF Observatory for Women in Insurance fully operational and to turn it into a strategic tool for steering, analysing and monitoring performance in terms of governance, female leadership and contribution to the sustainable growth of the insurance sector within the FANAF zone.
The new board elected at the end of the meeting is composed of seven members and headed by Mamadou Koné of Ivory Coast.
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