The first edition of the Life Insurance fair opened this Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Dakar. The event, organized by the Senegalese Federation of Insurance Companies (FSSA), is part of a dynamic of strengthening the role of life insurance as a lever for economic and social transformation. In her speech, the president of the FSSA, Oumou Niang Touré, recalled that this fair aims to federate all the actors of the insurance ecosystem (authorities, regulators, insurance companies, consumer associations, unions and academics) around a common ambition. This, in order to “make life insurance an instrument of economic sovereignty, online with the 2050 vision of the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye”.
According to the latter, “the Senegalese insurance market currently has 27 companies, including 9 operating in life insurance. In 2024, the overall turnover of the sector amounted to FCFA 291 billion, up 7 % compared to 2023. The benefits paid reached 133 billion FCFA, against 119 billion a year earlier (+11 %), while the placements of insurance companies have climbed to 599.17 billion FCFA, an increase of 17.6 % in one year. »»
Despite these advances, the president of the FSSA indicated that “the contribution of GDP insurance remains low: 1.45 %, of which only 0.53 % for life insurance. The average per capita premium, indicator of the penetration rate, is 15,467 FCFA (up 4 %), far from international standards. »»
Oumou Niang Touré has identified several brakes on the development of life insurance “Low culture of insurance in populations, insufficient adapted products, uncontrolled pricing, binding taxation, a low banking rate (26 % in 2023), and a still limited distribution network. She pleaded for a tax exemption from life insurance products, an adaptation of the regulatory environment, better financial education, widening of distribution channels via bancassurance and micro-assurance, and intensification of financial inclusion efforts.
A transformation potential for the economy
Ms. Touré insisted on the ability of life insurance to mobilize long -term savings and finance structuring investments. “Life insurer is an institutional investor. The resources collected, placed in public securities, bonds or real estate, can support the real economy, “she said. She also highlighted successful experiences in Morocco where bancassurance made it possible to expand the customer base and increase bonuses. The Senegalese sector, according to her, must be inspired by these good practices to modernize.
At the continent, the observation is just as worrying. Africa, which will have 2.5 billion inhabitants by 2050, represents only 1 % of the world market for insurance premiums. The average premium per inhabitant is $ 46, and the market is dominated by South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya which concentrate 85 % of premiums.
The fair thus aims to contribute to a paradigm shift, by encouraging the structural transformation of the sector, by supporting productive investments and by strengthening population resilience to social and economic risks.
