Insurance industry leaders have called for stronger collaboration between insurance companies and brokers to expand coverage to millions of Ugandans who remain outside the insurance market, warning that competition among players for existing customers will not deliver meaningful sector growth.
The leaders said insurers and brokers must move beyond disagreements over commissions, pricing and claims delays and instead combine their strengths to attract new customers, improve service delivery and make insurance more relevant to ordinary Ugandans.
The call was made during the NIC-IBAU CEO Dinner 2026, hosted by National Insurance Corporation (NIC) at Four Points by Sheraton, where industry players discussed the role of partnerships in growing Uganda’s insurance market.
Protazio Sande, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance Regulatory Authority, said the industry’s biggest competitors were not other insurance companies or brokers, but millions of Ugandans who believe they can live without insurance.
“For both of us, our biggest competitor are the millions of Ugandans who still believe they can live without insurance. And they want us to reflect on that seriously,” Sande said.
He challenged insurers and brokers to focus their partnerships on expanding the market rather than simply transferring existing customers between insurance companies.
“The collaboration between NIC and the broker here should not be on the renewals. By the collaboration we should build the 95%,” he said, referring to the large proportion of Ugandans who remain outside insurance coverage.
Sande noted that although the insurance industry has recorded growth, penetration has remained around five per cent, raising questions about whether the expansion in business is translating into wider coverage.
He cited sector growth averaging about 14.7 per cent and gross written premiums exceeding Shs2 trillion, but said the figures had not been matched by a significant increase in insurance penetration.
He described this as a paradox of growth, arguing that much of the industry’s expansion could be coming from existing customers moving between companies rather than new people taking up insurance.
“NIC will get additional business because a company has lost their business. They have not renewed with them. But there is no actual value created at sector level,” he said.
Sande urged insurers and brokers to identify new markets and take insurance products closer to people in their everyday environments instead of waiting for customers to approach insurance offices.
He said brokers were particularly important because they understand customers and their needs better, while insurers provide the financial capacity to underwrite risks and settle claims.
“I love this partnership because one partner is bringing capacity and the other is bringing connection,” he said.
Using the example of two people attempting to cross a river, Sande explained that an insurer could have a strong boat but lack knowledge of the river, while a broker understands the river but has no boat.
Neither could successfully reach the other side alone, he said, adding that combining their strengths would enable them to reach customers.
Ritah Mutesi, the Chairperson of the Insurance Brokers Association of Uganda (IBAU), also called for a stronger working relationship between NIC and brokers, describing collaboration as a business strategy necessary for sustainable growth.
Ritah Mutesi, the Chairperson of the Insurance Brokers Association of Uganda
“ We should not consider collaboration as a good working relationship, but a strategic business hub for scale. Collaboration is indeed the foundation for sustainable growth,” Mutesi said.
She described NIC and brokers as partners occupying different sides of the same coin, with the corporation providing the capacity to underwrite risks while brokers advise clients, connect them to insurers and support them throughout the insurance journey.
Mutesi said brokers were prepared to strengthen their professionalism, improve their capacity and ensure that members deliver better services to clients, but called on NIC to reciprocate through transparency, constructive engagement, innovation, efficiency and flexibility.
She also urged NIC to remain dependable even when business relationships encounter difficulties.
“We are looking for a reliable partner when things go well, and when they don’t, we still expect it to be reliable,” she said.
Mutesi said the industry’s ultimate success should not be measured by the number of insurance policies sold but by the number of families and businesses protected against unexpected losses.
“Our success will not be measured by how many policies we sell, but how many families and businesses we enable to remain resilient when the most unfortunate happens,” she said.
NIC Chief Executive Officer Dan Musiime welcomed the call for stronger collaboration, saying the corporation was repositioning its relationship with brokers by recognising them as strategic partners rather than merely distribution channels.
NIC Chief Executive Officer Dan Musiime
He acknowledged that NIC had previously disappointed some brokers through delays in claims processing and other service delivery challenges, noting that brokers often faced the anger of customers when the corporation failed to meet expectations.
“There are times when claims took too long to be processed or delayed. When claims had these delays, it was you, the broker, who had to face the client, not us, and for that we apologise that we let you down,” Musiime said.
He said NIC was undertaking operational changes to improve its relationship with brokers, including assigning every broker a designated contact person who understands their portfolio and can respond to their calls.
“Every broker will have a designated contact at NIC, who understands your portfolio and answers your calls,” he said.
Musiime also promised stronger service standards, digitisation of quotations and improvements in claims settlement, while encouraging brokers to hold the corporation accountable for its commitments.
He asked brokers to test the corporation by bringing new business, renewals and even their most complicated assignments.
“Trust cannot be built in a single evening like this one. It is earned policy by policy and claim by claim. So tonight, I have a very simple request to you. Please trust us. Bring us your next potential, your next renewal, or your most complex task. Push us to prove the new NIC,” he said.
Christopher Mugisha, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of IBAU, pledged the association’s support for NIC’s transformation, saying the corporation had played an important role in developing many professionals who now occupy influential positions in Uganda’s insurance industry.
He said many brokers and industry leaders had previously worked at NIC, making it important for them to maintain a strong relationship with the corporation.
Mugisha welcomed NIC’s decision to organise the dinner, saying he had spent years seeking greater engagement between the corporation and brokers.
“I will rally every broker until the last one to make sure that we all support NIC,” he said.
However, he urged NIC to match the brokers’ support with improved service, adding that the association expected the corporation to maintain its commitment to the partnership.
The leaders said collaboration between insurers and brokers would be critical in rebuilding public confidence, improving customer experience and taking insurance products to more Ugandans, particularly those who have yet to appreciate the importance of insurance.
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