CAIRO: Egypt is hosting the 22nd Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR) conference this year, focusing on how Afro-Asian insurance can play a vital role in the region's development and national economic prosperity. "The core business of FAIR is insurance and reassurance," said Albert Nduna, Group Chief Executive of Zim Re Holdings in Zimbabawe. "Better insurance for our countries means enhanced education, as well as better economic growth and wealth creation." Nduna was among several businessmen and insurance agents who participated in this year's conference, with officials from London, the US, Vietnam, Turkey, Morocco, India and Germany. Each year, the FAIR conference gives top executives and decision-makers from the insurance and reinsurance global markets the chance to meet with business partners and debate some of the most imperative issues affecting today's industry. Executives came together this year to discuss how insurance plans and opportunities can be enhanced in order to better the lives of citizens, who in turn would be able to develop better investments, lead successful businesses and live happier, more risk-free lives. While the idea of insurance in the Afro-Asian regions is not that widely accepted or utilized by the people, Yogesh Lohiya, chairman of GIC Housing Finance of India, pointed out that it is the responsibility of insurance company and sales representatives to explain the importance of insurance to society. "We fail in having good capital insurance and if we don't do that then there is no economic growth," said Lohiya. Capital insurance would allow business officials to take more risks and enter new ventures, serving as a catalyst for economic growth, he added. According to Lohiya, this is where the role of insurance agents comes in. "We are lagging behind and it's our own fault," he said. "We blame the people in our societies and say they are ignorant that they don't understand insurance…but we took these jobs in order to sell insurance and to sell we must talk to the people, be patient and explain." Adel Mouneer Rabeh, deputy chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, said that a "sound national insurance market is an essential driver" for economic growth. "Insurance enables business to operate with less volatility and risk of failure," Rabeh said in his speech to the delegation. "It provides us with greater financial and social stability." Rabeh added that insurance can also complement or even replace government social security programs such as government pensions and health insurance. As the global economy suffers in light of the recent revolutions as well as debt crises hitting Europe and the United States, Rabeh argued that insurance companies can play an important role in bettering the global economy because they have the ability to invest in long term projects more than any other industry. "Insurance can also enhance the credit worthiness of customers, thus enabling banks to lend with confidence and less risk," he added. By playing the role of financial mediators, insurance companies in the region can be the necessary catalyst to regional development. However, the key is to explain the importance of insurance to citizens in the Afro-Asian communities; and this lies in the hands of agents as well as companies who will have to devise better strategies and communication tools.
