Insurance companies are increasingly adopting digital technology and strategic partnerships to expand access to insurance services, targeting workers in the informal sector as the industry seeks to improve Uganda’s insurance penetration rate, which remains below one percent.
Speaking at the Jubilee Insurance Agent Awards 2025, Jubilee Insurance Chief Distribution Officer John Katende said digital transformation was helping insurers reduce operational costs while extending services to underserved communities.
Mr Katende said the informal sector had become a key target for insurers because many people operating in the segment still rely on informal saving mechanisms instead of insurance products.
“The informal sector is a target market for us as Jubilee Insurance,” he said.
He noted that unlike workers in the formal sector, who are generally more familiar with insurance services, many informal sector players have limited understanding of insurance despite running businesses and saving money through informal channels.
“Many of them are business people and have their own mechanisms of saving funds, but we intend to send out agents to reach them directly. We have digitised all our products and are able to serve them wherever they are,” Mr Katende said.
He added that the company had equipped and empowered its agents to engage communities directly to increase awareness and uptake of insurance products.
Uganda’s insurance penetration rate has remained below one percent for years, with industry players attributing the low uptake to limited awareness, low incomes, and mistrust of insurance services. Operators now see technology-driven solutions and community-based distribution channels as critical in attracting new customers, particularly in the informal sector, which employs the largest share of the country’s workforce.
