The Sunday Mail
Ishemunyoro Chingwere
THE insurance sector, through the Insurance and Pensions Commission, is trying to raise US$50 million for agri-infrastructure.
The sector intends to mimic the template used by some Asian countries to support growth by leveraging on resources pooled by insurance firms. Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan – severally referred to as the Asian tigers – registered rapid economic growth and industrialisation from the 1960s to the 1990s buoyed by capital partly sourced from the insurance sector. South Korea and Taiwan have grown to become international leaders and major rivals to Japan in the field of information technology, while Hong Kong and Singapore are key world players in the financial sector.
Ipec commissioner Mr Tendai Karonga told The Sunday Mail Business in a wide-ranging interview last week that agriculture could get a US$50 million injection from the sector. “There is the Asian tigers example where their industrialisation success all came from exploiting insurance and pensions resources and this is where we are moving to,” said Mr Karonga. “Right now we are trying to raise US$50 million for agriculture infrastructure development, especially for irrigation development, and already we have good pledges (from insurance companies).
“We expect to raise the US$50 million shortly. So we are already contributing (to economic growth) and we expect to increase the level of contribution. “In total, it’s (the insurance industry) worth US$4,4 billion in terms of assets, but the premium volume (as at December 31, 2016) is around $700 million.”
He conceded that the insurance sector alone could not industrialise the economy, hence the need for other sectors to weigh in. “We haven’t reached a stage where we can manage (alone) because what this basically means is this was domestic investment. We haven’t reached a level where our domestic investment drives our development, but we are moving there, it is happening,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s economy is beginning to recover following a successful 2016/2017 agricultural season and rising commodity prices on international markets. Last year, capacity utilisation in industry was at 47,4 percent, up from 34,3 percent in 2015; and the IMF and World Bank have upwardly reviewed this year’s economic growth forecast – even projecting growth higher than Treasury’s conservative estimates.
