NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – With competition for insurance services gaining intensity, leading insurer UAP has extended its presence to the bustling Kisii region in a bid to penetrate the budding small and medium enterprises operating there.
UAP Insurance Managing Director James Wambugu said the firm had decided to set up a fully fledged office in Kisii as part of its strategy to penetrate the wider southern Nyanza area extending from Homa Bay in the lakeside to the Tanzania border town of Isebania.
He said the town had grown to be the economic hub for the region providing residents and businessmen from surrounding towns with critical products and services.
“They have expressed a keen desire to consume insurance services from here, as it saves them a lot of time and money,” explained Mr Wambugu during the official opening of the office.
Regional towns such as Kisii were fast becoming 24-hour economies he observed, adding that this meant that demand for risk management services was on the rise. UAP, the MD said, had positioned itself to sufficiently advise business people on appropriate insurance covers.
The new office brings the number of UAP branches countrywide to 10. The firm is also working on partnering with strong agencies as part of bringing its insurance services closer to customers in areas where there are no branch offices.
UAP has also rolled out several insurance products that target key economic activities such as small scale farming.
“Kilimo Salama, for example is the index-based crop insurance product that we rolled out early this year in Oyugis, Homabay, Eldoret and Bungoma. This novel product is tailored for small scale farmers and works very simply using mobile phone technology and modern weather stations,” the MD added.
He observed that the to a great extent, the future of insurance will be driven by developing the right partnerships with organisations that are willing and have the spirit to try out new things as exemplified in the one that UAP had formed with the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Development to develop Kilimo Salama.
