Speaking during the third annual fintech workshop in Kampala IRA Acting Chief Executive Officer Sande Protazio said innovation has become critical for the sector to remain relevant amid changing consumer expectations, increased digital adoption and the emergence of new business models.
“We are recognizing the fact that the insurance landscape has been disrupted. It is no longer business as usual. We are trying to see how innovation can help us position ourselves in that disrupted environment,” Protazio said.
He noted that insurance worldwide is being reshaped by artificial intelligence, changing consumer behaviour and new business approaches, with customers increasingly demanding simple, accessible and convenient services.
“Customers expect insurance to be as simple, as accessible and very convenient. In the comfort of your seat, you should be able to consume insurance. In the comfort of your seat, you should be able to get your claim paid whenever the need arises,” he said.
Protazio said insurers must adjust their thinking by redesigning products, improving delivery channels and engaging customers to ensure solutions respond to their evolving needs.
He highlighted the role of the regulatory sandbox in creating an environment where innovators can test solutions, learn and develop products capable of addressing industry challenges.
He said the sandbox has evolved beyond a platform for testing products into a mechanism for developing market-ready solutions.
“We have exposed our ignorance that we don't know. We have opened ourselves up to you and invited you to help us fix the challenges that we have taken note of over time,” he said.
Protazio said the authority is now focused on ensuring ideas tested through the sandbox move beyond experimentation and contribute tangible solutions to the insurance market.
“We cannot do it alone because, along the ecosystem, we have all of you. If we put our minds together, we can fix these problems and make insurance stand out as one of the core services to support not only households but also the economy as a whole,” he added.
Protazio emphasised that innovation must help address longstanding concerns around trust, accessibility and efficiency within the insurance sector.
He said insurance is built on trust, adding that innovations should strengthen confidence by improving speed, transparency and accessibility.
“Once we deal with those, we see the trust challenge, which we have talked about over the years, reducing,” he said.
He urged innovators to test their ideas before introducing them to the market, saying partnerships can help transform concepts into viable business solutions.
“Our flagship insurance programme remains one of the authority’s most significant investments in insurance innovation. The next breakthrough insurance solution for Uganda could emerge from ideas nurtured through this programme,” he said.
The head of the Industry 4.0+ Bureau at the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat, David Kateeba, said the insurance sector must provide the right environment for innovators to experiment, develop and commercialise solutions.
Kateeba said regulatory sandboxes provide a critical platform where innovators can test ideas and develop technologies that respond to real market challenges.
“The biggest goal is to support innovators. How do we ensure they have all the right conditions for them to succeed?” he said.
Kateeba noted that the Industrial 4.0 sector was valued at about US$1.93 trillion in 2021 and is projected to grow significantly, presenting a major opportunity for Uganda and Africa to participate in emerging technology markets.
For the insurance sector, he said technologies such as vehicle trackers, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and digital risk assessment tools could help improve service delivery and reduce risks.
He emphasised the need for collaboration between regulators, researchers, businesses and innovators to build technologies that drive economic transformation.
The chairman of the Insurance Regulatory Sandbox, Kevin Kateete said the sandbox has evolved from a platform for testing insurance products into a broader innovation pipeline aimed at nurturing ideas, supporting innovators and transforming solutions into market-ready products.
He said the sandbox was initially created as a structured pathway to help innovators safely move ideas from concepts into reality but has since expanded beyond regulatory testing.
“We stopped being viewed simply as a regulatory mechanism for testing products. The sandbox is now a place where conversations can happen before regulation, where regulators can listen before deciding, and where innovators can experiment responsibly,” Kateete said.
He explained that the evolution of the sandbox gave rise to the InsureX programme, which focuses on identifying, mentoring and connecting innovators with industry players, investors, academic institutions and development partners.
Kateete said innovation in insurance requires more than permission to test ideas, noting that innovators need technical guidance, business support and a strong ecosystem to succeed.
He challenged stakeholders to embrace innovation as a response to challenges facing the insurance sector, including low insurance penetration, high operational costs and public concerns about claims settlement.