September 26, 2014
IMF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT |
| Media Relations |
|---|
| E-mail: media@imf.org |
| Phone: 202-623-7100 |
Insurance Regulators from Eastern Africa today concluded a two week seminar in Dar Es Salaam on the regulatory and supervisory frameworks in the region. Their discussions were also focused on developing an action plan to enhance, and to stimulate further regional cooperation.
The seminar titled Building More Effective Insurance Supervision which attracted participants from across the region, was organized jointly by the Toronto Centre and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center for Eastern Africa—East AFRITAC (AFE) in cooperation with the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority.
The seminar was motivated by the growing importance of the insurance industry in the region, the increasing cross-border operations and the as well as significant regulatory challenges that are faced by practitioners in the region.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Juma Juma Makame, Deputy Commissioner of the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority, emphasized that further regional cooperation is necessary not only in developing effective frameworks to supervise the cross-border activities of insurance companies, but also to realize the convergence and harmonization of frameworks within the East African Community (EAC) Partner States.
During the seminar, participants discussed their country priorities with regard to enhancements to be made to the supervisory and regulatory frameworks, and also with regard to consumer education. Participants received training and assistance on developing action plans and on the implementation of the measures needed to effectively realize some of the country priorities. In addition, technical presentations were held on financial analysis, capital adequacy, stress testing, on- and off-site supervision, intervention, enforcement and winding-up, and participants worked in groups on several case studies.
Speaking at the closure of the seminar Ms. Anna Msutze, Director of the Financial Stability Directorate of the Bank of Tanzania addressed the participants on the evolving financial stability function and the set-up of the Financial Stability Forum in Tanzania as a means to implementing effective macro-prudential oversight. She highlighted the importance of the risk transfer function of the insurance sector and its contribution to the creation of a more stable operating environment for households, non-financial corporations, financial institutions, and public sector entities giving them greater certainty in their forward planning and more entrepreneurial freedom. This reinforced the importance of establishing effective supervision and to address the topics discussed during the seminar.
Twenty-nine insurance supervision officials from 8 countries (Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South-Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda), a representative of the Secretariat of the East African Community and two Financial Stability experts of the Bank of Tanzania attended the seminar.
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