The newly elected president of the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF), Mamadou Koné, wants to steer the seven-member executive committee in reshaping the future of the African insurance sector with a governance programme based on five pillars.
Koné was elected during the recent 50th annual general meeting of FANAF, held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, for a three-year term that is renewable once. Koné is also the president of the Association of Insurance Companies of Ivory Coast (ASA-CI) and CEO of SanlamAllianz Ivory Coast.
Over the next three years, the new president wants to reshape the future of the African insurance sector with a governance programme based on five pillars. He hopes to reinvent FANAF to drive the sector’s transformation and growth.
A page in the history of the 50-year-old organisation has been turned, with significant achievements but also with work still to be done. A new era is also dawning for FANAF, with new challenges and immense stakes.
With insurance penetration rate of around 3.5% in the FANAF zone, its new president has the heavy responsibility of writing the first lines of this new chapter in the institution’s history.
Committed to succeeding in this noble and great mission, as indicated by the theme of the 50th annual assembly: ‘FANAF’s 50th anniversary: building the future of African insurance’, Koné presented a programme for his term of office based on a “clear” vision: “A reinvented FANAF: driving innovation, growth and transformation in African insurance.’
From this clearly stated ambition, he has developed an action plan called, ‘Together, let’s create the future of African insurance’, based on five pillars. The first pillar is the transformation of FANAF itself to equip it to support the need to strengthen players’ technical skills in the sector.
In other words, for Koné, what is needed is a FANAF that breaks with the past and puts in the work to tackle the many challenges and set the numerous projects in motion. FANAF therefore needs to be rethought to give it the necessary means to respond as effectively as possible to the current and future development challenges facing the continent.
Expanding the base of compulsory insurance
The second pillar of the action plan is linked to the ambition to build a robust insurance industry for the future. It is based on the urgent need to think outside the box to create and activate new growth drivers, with a focus on inclusive insurance that meets the coverage needs of populations generally excluded from traditional insurance products. With 20% of the world’s population, the continent’s insurance market has vast growth potential.
The new president also has ambitions to broaden the base of compulsory insurance in the FANAF zone, particularly in certain corporations and insurance sectors such as transport, health and construction. However, he pointed out that the introduction of these insurance obligations should not be seen as a mere growth opportunity for insurers, but as a real lever for security and protection of populations against vulnerabilities linked to hazards.
In terms of motor insurance, he wants to move up a gear in terms of innovation, through the digitisation of accident reports and the entire process.
The third pillar aims to make FANAF a catalyst for digital transformation in the sector. For example, the FANAF secretariat must move beyond its purely administrative role to become a hub for solutions for the African market. This means equipping it with operational structures responsible for data, actuarial science and tax assistance.
In the same vein, pillar 4 consists of placing FANAF in a role of producing talent for the sector. The final pillar focuses on strengthening the regulatory framework to support the sector’s development and respond to ongoing technological and societal changes. To succeed in all of these areas, new leadership must be instilled and FANAF must be given a new direction.
Relying on collective intelligence
Although his election as chair of the FANAF executive committee, gives him carte blanche to roll out his programme, Koné does not seem to want to go it alone.
He therefore needs all the players in the sector, starting with the other members of the executive board. He is convinced that it is through collective intelligence and synergy of action that the path for a new era of African insurance will be forged.
In his very first speech as FANAF president, he called on all stakeholders to unite around the essential goal: the development of African insurance in the service of the continent’s socio-economic progress.
“The election is behind us. The rallying begins now. We are no longer divided by opposing sensibilities; we are a united profession with a common mission,” he said.
Although he heads an office composed entirely of men, Koné has made it clear that gender will not be relegated to the background during his term. Better still, building on the work and achievements of the outgoing office, gender will be a key operational focus of his action plan.
“We want to build a FANAF that acts, structures, anticipates and has an impact. We want a federation that is useful to its members, useful to the regulator and capable of influencing decisions that affect our future,” he concluded.
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