Insurance leaders chart digital shift at Nairobi forum
Business
By
Benard Orwongo
| Sep 27, 2025
Africa's insurance industry is being urged to abandon outdated legacy systems and embrace digital connectivity and data-driven tools to cut costs, improve efficiency, and expand access for the uninsured.
This was the key message from the InsurTech Forum Nairobi 2025 (ITFN), which brought together more than 150 executives, regulators, and innovators to map out practical steps for digital transformation.
Currently, only 1 per cent of insurance operations in Africa use Artificial Intelligence (AI), but that figure is projected to reach 80 per cent in the next five years, according to Deloitte East Africa.
"The biggest challenge for insurers today is reliance on legacy systems that are expensive, inefficient and cumbersome," said Moses G. Kuria, Group Chief Financial Officer at M-TIBA.
"The industry will greatly transform by leveraging connected, end-to-end digital systems that simplify products, personalise services, and allow for more proactive health management."
Themed "From Legacy to AI: Actionable Next Steps," the forum was convened in partnership with the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI), the Insurance Institute of Kenya (IIK), and Caava Group, with support from partners including M-TIBA, Deloitte, NCBA Bancassurance, Old Mutual, and Redian Software.
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Ayisi Makatiani, CEO of Caava Group and convener of ITFN, said the debate had shifted from questioning the need for AI to figuring out how to implement it.
"The dialogue around AI in insurance has moved from asking 'why' to focusing on 'how.' ITFN 2025 is about giving leaders tools and partnerships to move from theory to scaled transformation," he said.
The event featured keynote addresses, panel discussions, and the Ultimate AI Innovation Challenge, where startups pitched solutions in underwriting, claims processing, fraud prevention, and customer engagement.
Urvi Patel, Consulting Leader at Deloitte East Africa, said partnerships and ecosystem approaches would be critical to overcoming low margins, slow growth, and reliance on outdated infrastructure.
"African insurers must innovate if they are to remain competitive and relevant in the digital future," she said.
With consensus on the urgency of change, the Nairobi forum is expected to set the pace for strategies and collaborations that will shape the continent's insurance sector over the next decade.