Don’t miss the exciting speakers at the 2023 African Insurance Exchange

We are counting down the days to this year’s African Insurance Exchange, which will take place at Sun City and online from 24 to 26 July. There are some incredible speakers lined up, who will share the latest information and trends from the insurance industry with delegates.

We caught up with a few conference speakers to find out what they are going to be sharing and what they’re looking forward to at conference. 

Bianca Botes, Director of Citadel Global, will be looking at the impacts of the grey-listing on the South African financial markets, and subsequent effect on the local economy.

The conference, she said, “… creates a platform where key current events and their impact can be shared. It is a space where professionals can debate key developments, and it aids in the transfer of knowledge and collaboration in the industry.”

Gareth Beaver, CEO of Santam Specialist Solutions, will be part of a panel examining systemic risks.

“Systemic risk refers to risks that typically play out as a chain reaction in a system resulting in widespread losses to individuals, businesses, industries, and even countries,” he said. “These risks are a threat to both resilience and access to capital because they are increasingly difficult or expensive to insure against.”

With risk increasing and becoming systemic in nature, where should insurers begin? What role should intermediaries, clients and government play in a holistic approach to risk management?

“The way forward,” he said, “requires close collaboration between insurers, brokers and customers, and between the global insurance industry and governments, to create new vehicles that combine insurance capital with sovereign capacity to enable protection against systemic risks.

“Furthermore, intermediaries have an increasingly more meaningful and influential role to play in the insurance value chain, more so in the current market where clients need to know with certainty whether they will have cover for the next ‘unforeseen’ event. Intermediaries act as real-time risk advisers, proactively helping clients to forecast and mitigate threats.”

Beaver believes the AIE conference is a great platform where industry experts and thought leaders gather in one room to discuss emerging trends and challenges facing the industry and come up with sustainable solutions to build a resilient future.

“Santam has always been a great supporter of the IISA,” he said. “We want to be part of the discussions on how the industry can play a role in creating sustainable insurance where all activities in the insurance value chain are done in a responsible and forward-looking way by identifying, assessing, managing, and monitoring risk – weather, environmental, social and governance.”

Markus Korhonen of S-RM global intelligence and cyber security consultancy, will provide a brief account of the kidnapping landscape, both globally and in South Africa, to explore some of the current key drivers of kidnapping.

“What I aim to show is that kidnapping takes place within a given socio-political and economic context; this can also help to point to any emerging escalation / reduction of the kidnapping threat,” he says.

Markus’s discussion also cover some observations from recent cases that speak to changes in the victim profile, with a specific focus on South Africa.

We’re looking forward to hearing these speakers and more at this year’s African Insurance Exchange. For more information or to book your spot, visit www.iisa.co.za.