Insurance crucial for economic stability–Veep
Vice-President Saulos Chilima has said insurance services are essential for economic stability and accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Chilima made the remarks at Sunbird Mount Soche in Blantyre on Saturday, during the 2018 Insurance Institute of Malawi (IIM) annual charter dinner under the theme Business Unusual.
He said: “Insurance plays an important role by enhancing internal cash flow and creating large amount of assets placed on the capital market and thus contributing to economic growth. At a wider macro-economic scale, the insurance industry, when well-managed, helps in mobilising savings; lowering the cost of capital; and providing risk management and liquidity.
“Recently, Malawi committed to achieving the SDGs. At national level, the third version of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy [MDGS] III for the period 2017–2022 is also in place. It needs no overstating that the most debilitating condition of poverty is not only income deficiency, but more severely, it is the failure to cope with vulnerability and uncertainty, as well as the inability to undertake risk,” he said.
Chilima also urged insurance companies to develop appropriate investment avenues, such as information communication technology (ICT), to positively contribute to the growth of the economy.
In his remarks, newly-inducted IIM president Maclonex Mwase said the sole purpose of the institute is to promote professionalism in the industry.
Mwase also committed to ensuring that the institution works effortlessly to increase insurance penetration in the country, which is at 1.4 percent, by disseminating information using different mediums. n
