Insurance Regulatory Authority, Innovation Village To Support Innovators Using Technology

The Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda partnered with the Innovation Village in Kampala, to launch a program to support existing insurance players, startups, and other organizations using technology to build and increase access to insurance solutions dubbed “IRA InsureX”.

The program, according to organizers, aims at providing business development Services and technical assistance to these innovators, to help them fast-track identifying opportunities, building solutions, and getting solutions into the Authority’s Regulatory Sandbox.

“By supporting these solutions will not only navigate being in the Sandbox but also prepare to scale on graduating it, altogether working towards doubling insurance penetration by 2025”, reads IRA statement released to media in part.

Sande Protazio, Director of Planning, Research and Market Development at IRA, said the program was borne out of the need to grow insurance penetration, unlocking the many benefits it has for households and enterprises, and how technology can accelerate increasing this access.

He added that; the advent of digital technology and innovation across the different sectors of the economy enhances efficiency, and service delivery and facilitates easy access to products through a controlled environment.

“This has triggered the interest of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to create a program geared towards doubling insurance penetration by 2025”, he added.

Protazio pointed out that IRA Innovation Action Plan of 2019, was developed on the need to extensively catalyze the use of innovation within the insurance industry.

He stressed that creating a provision for a flexible application of regulatory tools will encourage new and existing industry players to innovate, test and scale their innovative solutions to better serve their customers through digital channels.

According to the IRA statement, the InsureX program is a crucial aspect of IRA digitalization agenda that is designed to bring together InsureTech innovators, to use a shared digital infrastructure and build solutions faster.

Arthur Mukembo, Future Lab Studio Lead at the Innovation Village, said the sandbox will provide a safe space for entrepreneurs to innovate, build and test market-driven insurance innovations under a flexible regulatory regime.

“The IRA InsureX program is an opportunity for existing licensed players and insurance solutions wanting to digitalize, and innovators building technology solutions,” Mukembo said.

He added that the Sandbox at its core is a safe space where innovators can test their innovations in the market around an agreed set of principles with the regulator, through receiving support from IRA and the Innovation Village.

The IRA InsureX Program, according to Mukembo, is designed to unlock various opportunities for insurance sector innovators by increasing adoption, unlocking new revenue streams, and optimizing routes-to-market and costs to acquire and serve customers.

He further said that participants will access and develop tools to reduce the time and cost of testing solutions, get support preparing compliant applications to the Regulatory Sandbox, and get expert advice on developing, refining, and implementing Products.