THE Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) has set out an ambitious 2025–2026 strategic agenda aimed at strengthening regulation, boosting market development and addressing long-standing structural weaknesses in Zimbabwe’s insurance industry.
Central to the roadmap is a major shift in the commission’s supervisory approach, with Ipec signalling a move away from rigid compliance policing toward a more proactive and collaborative model.
Addressing delegates at the ongoing Southern Africa Insurance Indaba in Victoria Falls, Ipecinsurance and micro-insurance director Sibongile Siwela said the transformation was anchored in the commission’s emerging 2026–2030 strategic direction.
The indaba has been organised by the Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe.
“Coming now to our Ipec strategy for 2026–2030, our guiding theme is beyond compliance and regulation for sustainability,” Siwela said.
“We have been receiving feedback; one of them is that we are acting as compliance police.
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“I think we need to be more proactive than reactive as we go into the future.”
She said the regulator aimed to break with traditional box-ticking processes.
“We will be moving from risk-based, where we concern ourselves with the ticking boxes, following rigid processes — then I think we want to collaborate more as we move forward,” Siwela noted.
Ipec, she added, was seeking to partner the industry, anticipate challenges and come up with innovative solutions while moving away from “firefighting, last-minute execution”.
The refocused agenda would prioritise consumer protection, regulatory modernisation, climate-oriented products, and new market development, according to Siwela.
“We want to do more of consumer protection, regulatory modernisation, market development. We want to focus on climate and sustainability,” she said.
Shedding more light on the state of affairs in the industry, Siwela outlined several ongoing regulatory changes.
“We issued out SI [Statutory Instrument] 67 of 2025 with new capital requirements, and the industry is at different levels of compliance, with re-insurers being the most compliant with 90%.
“We have engaged those that support compliance, and some of them have already submitted roadmaps towards compliance.”
She confirmed the development of the Road Accident Fund, saying this was a highly talked about issue and there was hope for discussion.
“The industry is still quiet on the issue that is painful,” Siwela said.
She said multiple legislative instruments remained in the pipeline, including the Ipec Act.
“The Ipec Act is also awaiting second reading. The Insurance Amendment Bill was revised to incorporate marine insurance and business insurance, and the bill is now awaiting approval by the Minister of Finance,” Siwela said.
Meanwhile, regulatory standards are open for industry applications until year-end, she said.
“This will allow the industry to pilot new products in a much more relaxed environment.
“It will allow you to achieve more with less requirements for compliance.”
Siwela added that other frameworks were also progressing, including agriculture index insurance regulations, minimum insurance standards, mandatory cover for artisanal miners, marine insurance, and proposals for public asset insurance.
She said these measures would expand coverage in areas that currently do not have enough insurance.
As the sector continues to face structural hurdles that limit growth, Siwela noted several challenges that included the transition to IFRS 17, low insurance uptake, and capital requirements for insurers, among others.
She, however, highlighted the opportunities too.
“The informal market is at 76%, so we need to focus more on the informal market.”
Despite the scale of upcoming changes, Siwelasaid Ipec’s long-term vision remained consistent.