Uganda leads push for common insurance rules across East Africa

KAMPALA — Insurance companies in Uganda and five neighbouring countries will be judged against the same supervisory standards under a plan agreed by the region’s regulators.

The heads of insurance regulators from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo met in Nairobi under the East African Insurance Supervisors Association (EAISA).

The association is chaired on an interim basis by Dr Protazio Sande, acting chief executive of the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRA).

The six countries all supervise insurers against the same 25 core principles, but each has been assessing compliance in its own way. The regulators have now agreed a single template for those assessments.

Dr Sande said the template would allow each country to assess its own market and measure it against its neighbours.

Each regulator will carry out its assessment before the group compares results in December.

“The idea is to move towards one market,” said Godfrey Kiptum, head of Kenya’s regulator.

The regulators also plan a shared digital platform linking their six databases. According to Dr Sande, it would allow them to exchange information in real time, jointly monitor insurance groups operating in more than one country and detect risks automatically.

For customers, the most direct change would be a common framework for complaints. It would set minimum standards for how insurers handle, record and resolve complaints from policyholders.

Regulators also said insurers are increasingly expected to hold capital in proportion to the risks they cover. Firms wanting to insure large projects in sectors such as mining and oil and gas may have to ask shareholders for more money.

That is relevant in Uganda. The IRA partly blamed a fall in non-life premiums in the first half of 2026 on oil and gas policies awaiting renewal.

Uganda’s insurance market is growing but remains small. Premiums reached Shs2.024tn in 2025, up 14.7% on the previous year.

Yet insurance premiums are equivalent to just 0.87% of Uganda’s GDP, according to the EAC Insurance Outlook Report 2025. In Kenya the figure is 2.25%.

Speaking at a climate risk forum held alongside the meeting, Dr Sande tied insurance to investment. “If it is not insurable, perhaps it is not investable,” he said.

Officials admitted that turning the agreements into practice would depend on political support at home. They noted slow progress in passing the association’s constitution into law.