ZANZIBAR'S Permanent Secretary in the President's Office, Finance and Planning, Dr Juma Malik Akili has commended the current efforts by Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC) for its creativity in simplifying insurance services to the public- a move he said compliments the government's efforts in the insurance sector.

Speaking during the launch of a digital service dubbed VodaBima that is a joint venture between ZIC and Vodacom Tanzania in the Isles yesterday, Dr Akili said the initiative was a testimony that the State-owned company was fully committed to serving its people by taking services closer to them.

"Through VodaBima, it is evident that people will be in position to receive services via their mobile phones, thus increasing simplicity and improving the insurance sector.

Similarly, the Permanent Secretary praised Vodacom Tanzania for the collaboration with ZIC and requested them to widen its services in isles so that more people could enjoy insurance services, as well as other mobile phone services.

Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA) Commissioner, Dr Mussa Juma called on other insurance companies to come up with innovative ideas, which would improve service delivery as well as improving distribution channels to reach out to many customers.

"We have witnessed the best starting point because initially, we started with financial institutions via bancassurance and now we are going for telephone companies," he said.

ZIC Director General, Arafat Haji said apart from joining efforts by the government in improving insurance services in the country, the new initiative by the corporation aimed at ensuring that more people are accessing insurance services closely and timely.

"This strategy comes at a time when statistics show that only 30 per cent have access to insurance services, therefore, more efforts are needed and we believe that through VodaBima, which is using a high-tech method through M-Pesa, we are now going to reach out to many people and assure our customers of maximum security in the course of providing our services," said Mr Haji.

Earlier, Head of M-PESA Business Development and Marketing, Rashid Tulisindo said through VodaBima his company was eyeing to bridge the gap on the provision of insurance services by reducing the cost of accessing services.

"This is the first service of its own in the market and through the service, we are going to simplify insurance services at ZIC as well as services for claiming compensation and currently, we are offering several services depending on the changing markets," said Mr Tulisindo.

Copyright Tanzania Daily News. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English