Scaling up insurance services in Tanzania: The Strategis Insurance Story

Expanding access to insur­ance services across the econ­omy is an important part of the overall strategy to grow the sector and reach many more Tanzanians with vari­ous types of Insurance prod­ucts.

The National GDP growth of 5% on average, year on year over the past ten years, offers an immense opportu­nity to expand the insurance penetration and accommo­date a much larger population.

Currently, while the overall insurance premiums have been growing by at least 10% annually during the past five years (Annual Insurance Market Performance Report - 2022), the insured population remained as low as 15% of the entire population as at 2022 (Tira Annual Market report 2023)

With this in mind, the Tan­zanian insurance industry players are discovering among other things the importance of serving the low income (bot­tom of the pyramid) market so as to expand the brackets of the insurable population.

Strategis Insurance, being one of Insurance Industry players, took a leading role in ensuring that it supports the Government’s Insurance sector growth strategy by growing its gross written premium and at the same time increasing the variety of prod­ucts under its portfolio and its reach.

The journey started in 2002 when it was one of the first privately owned med­ical insurance companies in Tanzania to be registered. The introduction of private­ly-owned medical insurers came as a result of Govern­ment reforms in the health sector that began in the early 1990’s where several meas­ures geared at universal health access were introduced. With over two decades of experi­ence, the company has grown to become one of the leading insurers in the market.

The growth spurred the company to diversify as part of its expansion strategy to meet client needs and sup­port the Government’s initi­atives to serve more Tanza­nians. Thus, 6 years ago the Company expanded both its product offering and footprint to provide other general insurance services including Motor, Property, Engineer­ing, Marine and Travel among others.

Geographically, the Company now has offices in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma, Mwanza and Zan­zibar and is known as a Total Insurance Solutions provider where customers are able to access their various insurance services all under one roof.

What does the growth mean?

For Strategis, this growth means increased capacity to serve more clients and create more products that meet cli­ent needs while increasing the insurance penetration and the Company’s market share.

Over the past few years, the Company has positioned itself to become the 2nd larg­est insurance Company in the market by revenue (Gross Written Premiums) by the end of 2023. In the private medical insurance space, Strategis is leading with about 60% market share covering over 100,000 members in var­ious customer segments and working with over 800 health services providers locally and abroad in several countries.

Strategis has always believed that “a Healthy Nation is a Wealthy Nation” and that for Tanzanians to be able to successfully continue with their economic activities and grow the economy, they must be healthy first. Thus, over the last year, one among the main areas of focus for the Company, has been strength­ening its medical insurance service offering to align with Government strategy of attaining health services for all as envisaged by the Uni­versal Health Insurance bill that became a Law towards the end of 2024.

To our customers, the growth means a guarantee of high quality and reliable services that are offered by a well-established network of partners that aim to provide more possibil­ities at the cus­tomers’ disposal.

Perception in the Market

Strategis has been recognized for its high-qual­ity services and reliability to deliver on its promises by receiving several awards last year including; ‘The most preferred  Insurance Company’ in the Medical insurance category by the Consumer’s Choice Awards, “1st Runner up in the Insurance Services Sec­tor (Large Companies) by the President’s Manufacturers of the Year Awards (PMAYA) and recognition by the reg­ulator, Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA) as Best Performer in Gen­eral Insurance Penetration (Health Insurance Category).

The Future

The future of Strategis is in alignment with the govern­ment’s strategy that focuses on industry growth, efficien­cy, and inclusion. The Com­pany will continue targeting underserved segments of the economy while introducing more products for the existing and potential clientele. The Mtetezi Agriculture Insur­ance product introduced recently brings a solution for agricultural producers in addressing the major risks they face due to calamities. Further, to align with the Uni­versal Health Insurance drive in the country, the Company is working on products for special groups that are more affordable than those offered under the corporate segment.

We see ourselves as the leading insurance company in Tanzania and one of the largest insurers in the region while maintaining our posi­tion as the most preferred insurance company.

One Message to the Public?

There are many misconcep­tions in the market about the cost of acquiring insurance. For medical insurance, many believe that the products are unaffordable. Our message is “Tanzanians can afford to buy Medical Insurance cover regardless of their economic segments and we are here to serve them.