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ASSOCIATIONS within the country’s insurance and pensions sector have come together to establish the Zimbabwe Insurance and Pension Apex Council (ZIPAC).

The Apex body’s chairman, Mr Tassius Chigariro, said the goal of setting up of ZIPAC was to coordinate the disparate and numerous players of the two critical sectors.

“As powerful as our industry is, we were letting ourselves down, we were fragmented and making uncoordinated voices that were out of tune with one another. Our industry is made up of a number of sectors that each in their own right is influential.

Even the most talented of voices, if they don’t sing in tune, to the listener, it is just unbearable noise,” he said.

“In October 2019, the following sectors regulated by IPEC came together to form one board that aims to sing in one tune,” he said.

These include the Life Offices Association of Zimbabwe (LOAZ), which coordinates all the long-term life assurers, Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ), which coordinates the short-term, the Property and Casualty Assurers and Zimbabwe Association of Funeral Assurers (ZAFA). Others include the Insurance Brokers’ Association of Zimbabwe (IBAZ), which is responsible for the agents and advisors as well as the Zimbabwe

Insurance Loss Adjusters (ZILA) and the Zimbabwe Association of Pension Funds (ZAPF), which aims to coordinate the 1 200 pension funds in the country.

“These sectors came together to form one joint body now called the Zimbabwe Insurance and Pensions Apex Council, ZIPAC,” said Mr Chigariro.

He, however, acknowledged that there were still some key players from the sector that are yet to be part of the new institution.

“Just to mention two significant ones, medical insurance industry, separated of course, from medical services, which belongs to the Ministry of Health, the second one being the most avoided debate, National Social Security Authority (NSSA),” he said.

Zimbabwe’s pensions and insurance sector has been facing a number of challenges, particularly with respect to operating in a hyper-inflationary environment, as well as low uptake of pensions and insurance products.

“Our purpose is to share ideas with the Government on how we can work together and help you tackle the national challenges. The industry desires to play a positive and contributory role in the economic development of our country,” he said.

“We want to play a role in insuring food security for our nation. 

“We want to play a role in ensuring that long-term savings are channeled appropriately to the development of the nation in a way that also generates favourable returns for the aging population.

“Traditionally we have been viewed as funders, however, significant benefits and potential can be unlocked when we are viewed as a strategic long-term development partner.” — BH24