AfricaPress-Tanzania: FINANCE and Planning Minister, Dr Philip Mpango, has challenged the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) to embrace improvements for competitiveness in the insurance sector in the country.
Dr Mpango made the remarks in Dar es Salaam during his visit to the institution to inspect the progress in the provision of insurance services.
“It’s very important for Tanzanians to develop a culture of having insurance cover and we have to be proud of using insurance products from our corporation,” he said.
Dr Mpango further told the NIC staff to work hard and move the corporation forward by introducing modern services.
“We have to look back where we did mistakes and correct them for good service delivery and be able to compete in the market,” he stated.
Dr Mpango pointed out that the current performance of NIC was impressive, but insisted on the efforts of individual workers to improve the corporation.
“Contribution of the corporation to the country’s development is big and you need to have a dream so that you leave your legacy in this corporation. Don’t be discouraged by your past failures…you should move ahead,” Dr Mpango told the staff.
NIC Executive Director, Dr Elirehema Doriye, assured the minister of moving the corporation forward.
“One of the priorities was to make the NIC acquire a modern way of operating and providing better services,” Dr Doriye said.
So far, in turning NIC into a modern entity, they have improved systems of information and communication technology (ICT) for better service delivery.
NIC was incorporated in 1963 with government ownership of 51 per cent, while 49 per cent was shared by Munich-Re, Swiss-Re and Colin Hood Insurance Brokers.
The corporation was authorised to transact life and general insurance business.
After the Arusha Declaration in 1967, NIC was nationalised and became 100 per cent owned by the government and was the only insurance company in the country for about 30 years up to 1996.
