At a time when Africa is seeking to build more resilient social protection systems and better mobilize its domestic savings to finance its development, insurance appears as a lever that is still largely underutilized. Despite steady growth in the sector, the average penetration rate remains below 1% in the CIMA zone, leaving hundreds of millions of Africans, especially those in the informal sector, without real coverage against life’s uncertainties.
It is in this context that Financial Afrik interviews Mamadou Koné, President of the African National Insurance Companies Federation (FANAF), on the sidelines of the first General States of Insurance for All, held from July 6 to 8, 2026 in Cotonou (Benin). A few months after his election as head of the organization, the Ivorian leader presents a roadmap that aims to usher African insurance into a new phase of development, making insurance inclusion the main driver of growth for the coming decades.
At the heart of this strategy is the adoption of the Pan-African Pact for Inclusive Insurance, a true roadmap aimed at engaging the entire ecosystem – insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, regulators, states, and development partners – around a common goal: making insurance accessible to as many people as possible. Simplified products, microhealth insurance, agricultural insurance, coverage for SMEs, use of digital technologies and the continent’s approximately 600 million Mobile Money accounts, regulatory framework evolution, and tax incentives: Mamadou Koné details the reforms he deems essential to transform the sector sustainably.
Beyond just the insurance industry, the President of FANAF advocates for a broader vision: that of an inclusive insurance capable of strengthening household resilience, securing small businesses, supporting private investment, and ultimately contributing to the financing of African economies. A substantive interview on one of the most strategic transformations currently taking place in the African financial sector.
