Insurtech is spreading rapidly in Africa, with the number of start-ups rising from 18 in 2017 to 50 at the beginning of 2019. The underdeveloped insurance market in Africa is hampered by a lack of access to banking services, poor distribution of products and public mistrust of insurers, according to one of the companies involved. A second company predicted insurtech would overtake traditional insurance just as mobile networks spread more quickly than fixed-line services. Bismart, co-founder of start-up Simply, said the African insurance market could be worth “hundreds of billions” in 20 years.
Insurtech is spreading rapidly in Africa, with the number of start-ups rising from 18 in 2017 to 50 at the beginning of 2019. The underdeveloped insurance market in Africa is hampered by a lack of access to banking services, poor distribution of products and public mistrust of insurers, according to one of the companies involved. A second company predicted insurtech would overtake traditional insurance just as mobile networks spread more quickly than fixed-line services. Anthony Miller, co-founder of start-up Simply, said the African insurance market could be worth “hundreds of billions” in 20 years.