Kenya’s new maritime insurance law will save the country $250m a year, the country’s Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) said on Tuesday.
CEO Sammy Makove said that the law requires all importers of goods into Kenya to buy insurance from companies registered in the country.
“Currently Kenya’s importers are exporting millions of dollars, typically in hard currencies, to foreign offshore insurance companies and industries,” said Makove.
The new law comes into effect at the start of 2017. It will be enforced by the Custom Services Department of the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates that the country imported goods worth $15.7bn in 2015.
Makove claimed that 90% of these imports were insured offshore, even though Kenya had “a strong and vibrant insurance industry”. However, the IRA appeared to admit that the Kenyan insurance sector wasn’t quite there yet. It said that, after the implementation of the law, marine cargo insurance would “emerge” as a significant industry.