African Insurance Organisation

tion consists of a General Secretariat, headed by a Secretary General, an Executive Committee, headed by the President and the General Assembly which is the supreme body of the Organisation. NEW STRATEGIC PLAN OF THE AIO
The African Insurance Organisation (AIO) was initially established to help develop a healthy insurance industry and insurance co-operation in Africa. However, today’s world is quite different. For this reason, the AIO conducted a comprehensive study to better understand and align to the expectations of its members. This resulted in a new strategic plan. The study demonstrated that AIO members and non-members uniformly see the AIO as the natural body to represent the African insurance sector. As such we have the clear mandate from our members to become a centre of competence and an advocate for the needs of the African insurance industry. More explicitly, our members defined the following six strategic initiatives to be implemented over the next five years:
Advocacy
The AIO should advance the policy interests of the African insurance industry. The main goals are:
• AIO is to become the one-stop-shop for policymakers, governments and other stakeholders to learn about the benefits of insurance in Africa
• AIO will define a roadmap to advance the positions of its members
• AIO will advocate the common member’s positions
Research
The AIO will contribute to decision making and industry recognition by providing thought-leadership and market insights. The main goals are:
• AIO will provide and develop a data repository about Africa’s insurance markets
• AIO will analyse the data, recognise trends and convert these into key topics/thought-leadership contributions
• AIO will leverage topics and thought-leadership for agenda-setting in advocacy
Training
The AIO will continue to set standards and highlight best practices by providing insurance education. The main goals are:
• AIO is to analyse and define the training needs of its members
• AIO to select providers and courses that are relevant to training needs of the African insurance industry
• If needed, the AIO will not just define standards but also develop new training courses for its members
Events
The AIO will continue to provide its acknowledged networking platforms to its members, such as the General Assembly and the Reinsurance Forum. At the same time, we will strengthen our focus on the plenary sessions where key industry topics will be discussed:
• AIO will continue offering high-quality networking events
• AIO aims to strengthen the relevance of the events as platforms to inform on market trends
• AIO will leverage the events to also inform and report to members on its progress against its goals
Reputation Building
The AIO wishes to strengthen the positive perception of the industry as a facilitator of economic and societal progress:
• Although we believe awareness building for the benefits of insurance is a task best served by national institutions, we will provide support by developing an online repository of articles and publications that members may use for their purposes
Capacity Building
The AIO intends to facilitate solutions that address the needs of the underinsured segments of societies and to assure a higher insurance penetration:
• AIO will evaluate its existing pools and discuss the need for new solutions with its members
• AIO may test the viability of new insurance solutions through ‘lighthouse’ projects (e.g. in agricultural microinsurance)