Besides the fear or misunderstanding towards insurance in Malawi, it seems that the insurance companies only target large scale businesses. This leaves the insurance companies as unknown or unheard of, since the large scale businesses are in urban areas, of which only 3.1 million people settle in, out a total of 19.1 million. (www.worldometers.info, 2018 population statistics)

This means that 16 million Malawians are living in developing or undeveloped rural areas, and have small scale businesses that could be insured.

General Alliance, an insurance company that can be traced back to 1996, is reaching out to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Bizmalawi spoke to General Alliance’s Mzuzu Branch Manager, Blessings Kananji, who said that although SMEs face different risks than bigger enterprises, they need insurance the most.

“Malawi is predominantly agricultural, so products such as crop and livestock insurance have been developed to cover farmers and all involved in such trade” said Kananji. He also expressed concern for lack of interest in insurance by all businesses and the general public. “Imagine, Malawi at 54 years of independence, has an insurance penetration rate of 1.4%, out of more than 17 million people”, he said, comparing Malawi to Namibia’s 6.7% and South Africa’s 16%.

 Regardless, General Alliance strives to inform people about the importance of insurance. “The Financial Literacy Week, organized by the Reserve Bank of Malawi, is one of the many platforms that we use to bring insurance awareness”     

Kananji added that insurance enables people to carry out their daily activities with peace of mind, knowing that their risks have been shouldered by their respective insurance companies.