The Need to Further Imbibe the Culture of Insurance in Africa

Abstract

Insurance has been with man for ages: there are different accounts regarding the exact origin of insurance but there is universal agreement that the earliest insurance schemes were in maritime trade, properties and, later, life assurance. In Africa, the history of insurance is even more distorted but one fact which remains unchallenged is that South Africa took the lead. Generally speaking, insurance is alien to the African culture: it is imported from European and other developed countries that colonized Africa, and perhaps that development explains the apathetic attitude of an average person of African extraction. Were the thriving insurance businesses not legally mandatory, the most common being motor insurance, there is doubt that people would ever bother to insure. Be that as it may, this paper argues that life is concomitant with dangers, and such events are far beyond human control. While some of the dangers are natural, others are man-made: either way, for the protection of self, family and properties, it is incumbent on the average man to insure in order to cushion the effects of mishaps, which are incidental to life. This paper adopts the Boy Scout Motto: “Be prepared,” which stated otherwise means that it is more strategic to plan for vicissitudes of life by taking out insurance policies, than to run helter-skelter when calamities strike. Fortunes acquired through the years could perish in one day as a result of many factors; insurance is the veritable means by which such unanticipated consequences of life could be mitigated. The object of this paper is to sensitize Africans regarding the advantages of insurance and it is of the view that it behooves African governments to enact relevant laws and regulations which prompt the citizens to take out policies of insurance because of the benefits derivable thereof, not only for the people, but also for the economic growth of African countries, given the multiplier effect generated as a result of insurance.