ZEP-RE, CIO East Africa partner to host InsureTech Forum 2019

ZEP-RE, (PTA Reinsurance Company) regionally recognized as a specialized institution of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) fostering development of the insurance industry has partnered with CIO East Africa to host the premier Insurtech Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on 19^th September, 2019.

In an effort to bring together Technology, Operations and Business leaders to connect, collaborate and inspire change, the eagerly awaited forum purposes to benchmark progress with digital transformation, exchange ideas and share experiences lined to offer value to the end-users and the insurance industry as whole.

Themed: Connecting the Digital Future of Insurance Today; the InsureTech Forum will address the changing needs and expectations of clients/customers while exploring the benefits of emerging client-driven technological innovations as well as solutions yearned from the insurance industry.

Speaking at the signing ceremony to cement the partnership between CIO East Africa and ZEP-RE, Laura Chite, CEO of CIO East Africa said the forum will challenge the traditional world of insurance by initiating a journey to create an ecosystem that will deliver an enhanced and successful digital insurance strategy for insurers today.

“With unmatched networking opportunities, the forthcoming InsureTech Forum will be an invaluable opportunity for the insurance sector players as they will directly access the disruptive tech-titans,” said Chite adding: “This will be an opportunity to engage with insightful industry strategists and leaders driving real change in a sector that is steadily evolving.”

“With unmatched networking opportunities, the forthcoming InsureTech Forum will be an invaluable opportunity for the insurance sector players as they will directly access the disruptive tech-titans,” said Chite adding: “This will be an opportunity to engage with insightful industry strategists and leaders driving real change in a sector that is steadily evolving.”

Pointing out that the industry has so far only seen the beginning of change, Hope Murera, CEO, ZEP-RE said the insurance ecosystem is undergoing transformation and innovation like never before.

“Insurance companies today are facing a perfect storm of varied converging factors: the struggle to achieve top-line revenue growth, changing customer needs and expectations, declining profitability as well as the disruptive and yet inevitable technologies,” said Murera.

“In light of these pressures, the insurers have an opportunity to rethink their business models and customer engagement techniques in order to gain and maintain market relevance,” said Murera adding that it is against this background that ZEP-RE chose to partner with CIO East Africa to host the premier InsurTech Forum bringing together the vast insurance industry stakeholders to explore ways of growing the insurance pie through technology while optimizing costs. “This is in line with ZEP-RE’s founding mandate to develop the insurance industry in the region,” added Murera.

“The Millennial Factor is another opportunity that the industry must exploit for growth,” added Murera noting that the industry must ready itself to address the needs of this tech-savvy demographic which represents a relatively new and untapped customer base.

Several new technologies are simultaneously hitting the market, transforming the way people work, live, and financially protect themselves, it is increasingly becoming crucial for any insurance provider to keep a close eye on how their work is evolving, asserted Chite while justifying CIO’s collaboration with ZEP-RE.

Considering that several market forces are driving the inevitable change in the insurance space, both CIO East Africa and ZEP-RE noted that while technology is a facilitator or tool to solve problems, it is incumbent on the insurers to understand the challenges currently faced by the industry and design solutions including the use of technology to address them.

Murera lauded the partnership noting that it will give various insurance industry players the opportunity to explore options that exist for insurers looking to reduce their expenditure on outdated technologies and tapping into opportunities that will come from fully integrated data.