They made this call during the 40th African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference held in Cairo, Egypt.
They said the continued reliance on China and other European countries for assistance, rather than developing local economies through trade and exchange would not only make the continent vulnerable to global crises as seen in the last four years, but will continue to deepen poverty and suffering among Africans.
They pointed out that Africa had for long depended on the rest of the world, entrenching high level poverty, sickness, hunger and decaying infrastructure, resulting in lack of economic development.
Prime Minister of Egypt, Hisham Qandeel, while speaking at the conference, said lack of infrastructure hinders development in the African continent, adding that at the African Union, governments have identified the need to develop infrastructure along the line of economic corridors.
He said : “We realise the importance of connecting each other now via roads and waterways to enhance trade and commerce among our nations.
“The Egyptian government since after its revolution is working very hard to bring stability, economic empowerment, justice and development programmes that will impact on the people through quality investment in infrastructure.”
Qandeel said Egypt is already working on its Nile water ways to not only create greater access for movement of ships, but open up irrigation channels and roads for trade with neighbouring countries such as Khartoum and Jeba.
The Minister of Investment, Yehia Hamed, said African governments must create conducive environments that will encourage public and private partnerships. He said that given the role the insurance sector played in payment of compensation, which helped in rebuilding and transition of Egypt during the revolution since two years ago, it has become important that nations strengthen their insurance sector for effective risk management.
“Governments must make effective regulations that protect the policy holders, strengthen the financial position of the companies; enforce different compulsory insurances as well as help boost awareness for the overall interest of the economy” he added.
Chairman of the Conference Organsing Committee, Abel Raouf Kotb stated that African economy is set to grow from strength to strength with the continent outpacing the global average GDP growth. He pointed out that the main challenge is to ensure that this growth reflects on the average citizen and that the riches of countries in the region have direct effect of alleviating more Africans out of poverty and tackling inequality.
He said: “We have many reasons to be optimistic, but let’s not underestimate the challenges we face. Our continent continues to depend on external demand making us susceptible to global economic slowdowns, particularly in China and the Eurozone.”
He noted that Africa faces many domestic risks such as youth unemployment, political upheaval, low insurance penetration and severe weather, adding that the insurance industry has a pivotal role to play in ensuring that these risks are properly identified and managed in order to ensure sustainable development.
The Nation
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