Jubilee Life Insurance:

In the case of life insurance, you pay premiums for a specific term and in return, be provided with a life cover. This life cover secures your loved ones’ future by paying a lump sum amount in case of an unfortunate event. In some policies, you are paid an amount called maturity benefit at the end of the policy term.

There are several insurance companies operating in Tanzania. In light of marking Insurance Day today, ‘The Guardian’ had an interview with Jubilee Life Insurance chief executive officer – Helena Mzena on how the company is involved in and its future prospects. Excerpts…

Q: Jubilee Life Insurance was chosen as the new name after a thorough research exercise aiming to enable the company to overcome uncertainty and provide solutions that protect the future of their customers. What has been achieved in that regard?

ANS: Jubilee Life Insurance Corporation of Tanzania Limited (Jubilee Life Tz) is a subsidiary of Jubilee Holding Limited (JHL), whereby JHL has been operating in the East Africa region for over 85 years now, JHL is listed in the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), the Nairobi Stock Exchange and Uganda Securities Exchange. With the largest shareholders’ fund in the region, our customers are assured of security and peace of mind.

To mention few achievements among many others, including year on year massive customer increase due to provision of quality service, being ISO certified as we run the company according to international standards and year on year revenue and asset growth.

Q: How can you differentiate Jubilee Life Insurance from others?

ANS: Jubilee Life Insurance is differentiated by customer focus- to us we put the customer first and ensure we meet and satisfy their needs. Products- we have a variety of products, from individual customers, SMEs to corporate customers. Price - we have affordable insurance products with suitable benefits and provides excellent customer service. Team - when combining the above three with the energetic customer-centric team we have, we stand out from other insurance companies.

Q: How does Jubilee Life Insurance handle its customers?

ANS: This involves providing excellent service as well as resolving customers’ concerns; we do meet this in various ways including training our team well in customer service principles. We focus on professionalism when providing our service, we listen and communicate clearly to our customers and also we handle complaints constructively, etc.

Q: Does Jubilee Life insurance have life insurance benefits that are guaranteed?

ANS: Yes, our Life insurance plans are endowment Life Insurance policies, which guarantee our customers to get their benefits no matter what happens, meaning if they live past maturity date, they will receive payout from us and if any insured incidence happens e.g., death, their beneficiaries will receive payout from us.

Q: Does Jubilee Insurance support the community in terms of corporate social responsibility?

ANS: Yes, we do have a budget for CSR each year and we do support the community in a variety of initiatives, for example we recently renovated and built several school classrooms, we built toilets in some schools, we built teachers houses etc. which was done across many regions in Tanzania, e.g., Arusha, Mbeya, Kagera, Dodoma, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam.

We also conducted primary school painting competitions and awarded top five winners with our Career Life plan, which is a life insurance plan towards children’s school fees.

Q: Tanzania is now one of the fastest developing economies in Africa, resulting in both increased opportunities for advancement as well as risks on a global scale. How does Jubilee Life Insurance take this up?

ANS: While we remain focused on compliance to manage risks from all angles, in terms of opportunities for growth in line with our country’s growth. Jubilee Life Insurance is taking part in PPP- Public Private Partnership to ensure our services reach citizens at large. In financial inclusion- with the use of technology we are trying our best to design platforms which allow easy access of our products and services, all in all digital transformation is one of our key strategic priorities.

Q: How would you describe the future of the insurance market in Tanzania especially looking in the area of Life insurance? Does government insurance policy favour players to develop, promote and maintain inclusive, efficient, fair, safe and stable insurance business in the country?

ANS: When talking about the future of Life insurance I would like to investigate trends that are shaping the life insurance industry in Tanzania, which might provide some premises for understanding its potential future:

Market Growth: The life insurance industry in Tanzania has been experiencing growth due to increasing awareness of the importance of insurance and a growing middle-class population. This trend may continue, driven by economic development.

Product Diversification: It appears that insurers are increasingly offering a variety of life insurance products tailored to meet the specific needs of different customer segments, including term life, whole life, and unit-linked policies.

Digitalization: Like in many countries, the insurance industry in Tanzania is moving towards digitalization. More insurers are offering online services, including policy purchases and claims processing. This trend is expected to continue, making insurance more accessible.

Yes, I will say 100 per cent the government insurance policy favours players to develop, promote and maintain inclusive, efficient, fair, safe and stable insurance business in the country through the insurance regulator, TIRA.

Q: Do you see any need to celebrate Insurance Day this year? What is your message?

ANS: Yes indeed, there is a need to celebrate Insurance Day this year. Looking at Life Insurance growth last year was 42 per cent, showing that the industry is gaining momentum, and in the very near future it will be a major contributor to our country’s economy. The message is “let us keep the good work in growing Insurance Industry in Tanzania.”

Q: Are there any recent awards that your company has received and is proud of?

ANS:  Yes, our company received several awards based on the services that we offer. This proves how good and reliable our service is, to mention but a few of these awards, we received two awards from Consumer Choice Awards Africa as the most convenient and preferred life insurance service provider in Tanzania and Most Reliable Life Insurance provider in Africa, both in 2021 and 2022. The NBAA awards - 2021 & 2022 we won the best presented financial statements and the PMAYA Award - 2021, a presidential award.