Jubilee Allianz General Insurance (K) partners with KNCCI to insure SMEs

By Mourice Seretta

Jubilee Allianz General Insurance and the Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KNCC) on Wednesday signed a partnership dubbed ‘Insurance for KNCCI members’ that will see Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) get their businesses and homes covered.

During the ceremony held at a Nairobi Hotel and attended by officials from Jubilee and KNCCI unveiled a range of insurance solutions aimed at providing a financial cushion to SMEs across the country.

SMEs who are not members of KNCCI will be able to access simple insurance solutions with extended discounts and ability to pay in instalments without affecting cash flow.

The solution is part of the value adds to members by ensuring business continuity.

What will be insured under the partnership include but not least to illness in family, theftof stock, fire/flood even accidents.

Commenting on the partnership, Jubilee Allianz General Insurance (K) Limited CEO, Catherine Igathe noted that insurance is a necessity for sustainable business operations that has largely been ignored by key stakeholders.

‘Allianz main purpose is securing the future of our customers and stakeholders. This partnership is aligned with KNCCI goal of ensuring members, who are mainly SMEs, access credit as well as remain a going concern. To grow the customer base, building wealth and protect assets, any business requires insurance and Jubilee Allianz has the right solutions and capability to respond to these business needs,’ Catherine said.

She added that the solution is also designed to have claims settled with speed to get the SMEs ‘back in business as quickly as possible’.

KNCCI President Fred Ngatia who was represented by Theuri Kariuki welcomed the move emphasizing that it will go a long way in ensuring that its members benefit from affordable insurance options.

‘The Covid-19 period has had negative impact on SMEs where multiple businesses recorded massive losses with decreased profitability. Business insurance is therefore highly welcome to provide coverage for income in the case of future unforeseen interruption,’ he said.

KNCCI challenged insurance companies to ensure that the masses are educated on the benefit of insurance. Kariuki who represented Ngatia said the public has a negative perception on insurance firms and it was time the firms acted on the same and built confidence in the public that views the sector as ‘cons’.

Kariuki further challenged the insurance firms to look into the diaspora remittances into the country saying they were ‘low lying fruits’ that the sector needed to tap into.