Minet Kenya has won eight accolades at the 2026 Think Business Insurance Awards, adding to its recognition in Kenya’s insurance brokerage and risk advisory sector, the company said on July 3, 2026 in a media statement issued in Nairobi.

According to Minet Kenya, the awards included wins for Best Corporate Broker, Best Personal Lines Broker and Best Innovator in New & Emerging Risks. The company also received First Runner-Up recognition in General Broker of the Year, Life Broker of the Year and Overall Broker of the Year categories. Minet Kenya said it was additionally recognised for Medical Brokerage and Customer Centricity.

The Think Business Insurance Awards are organised by Think Business, a Kenyan business publication and events platform. The company did not disclose the judging criteria or the number of competitors in its statement.

The awards come as insurers and intermediaries push to expand coverage in a market that remains underinsured by global standards. The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) estimates Kenya’s insurance penetration at about 2.4%, according to figures cited by Minet Kenya. Low penetration has been a recurring theme for the industry, shaping strategies that rely on broader distribution, simplified products and digital channels to reach individuals and small businesses.

Minet Kenya said its recognition in the “New & Emerging Risks” category reflects growing client demand for support in managing non-traditional exposures. In its statement, the firm cited cyber risk, climate-related events, supply chain disruptions and evolving regulatory requirements as key threats businesses and individuals are seeking to address.

Commenting on the awards, Sammy Muthui, Chief Executive Officer of Minet Kenya, said the results reflected client trust and internal execution. “These awards are a strong endorsement of the trust our clients place in us and the dedication of our teams who work every day to help organisations and individuals manage risk with confidence,” Muthui said.

He added that risk complexity is rising across sectors. “The risk landscape today is very complex, but we remain capable and available to deliver practical solutions that protect our clients today while preparing them for tomorrow's challenges. We remain committed to raising the standard of insurance brokerage and risk advisory in Kenya and across the region,” Muthui said.

For Kenya’s insurance market, recognition around corporate brokerage and personal lines underscores how intermediaries are positioning themselves to serve both large institutions and retail customers as competition intensifies. Industry players have increasingly tied growth ambitions to technology-led distribution and advisory-led services, as insurers pursue higher policy volumes and improved retention in a price-sensitive market.

Minet Kenya said it has been investing in digital distribution channels and developing products aligned to changing risks, linking this to the broader opportunity implied by the IRA’s penetration estimate. The company did not provide investment figures, timelines or uptake metrics in the statement.

Going forward, the sector’s near-term focus is expected to remain on expanding access and product relevance, particularly for emerging and hard-to-price risks such as cyber and climate exposures. Minet Kenya said it will continue to develop solutions tailored to evolving client needs, as brokers and insurers compete to grow share in a low-penetration market.

Jubilee Health Insurance is expanding an instalment-based premium payment model in Nairobi to increase access to private health insurance among uninsured and underinsured Kenyans, the company said on Friday, 3 July 2026.

The insurer said the scale-up is informed by customer feedback indicating that while many people value health cover, they struggle to pay annual lump-sum premiums. Under the “Linda Afya Leo – Lipa Pole Pole” model, customers can activate cover from the first payment and spread premiums over up to 10 monthly instalments, according to the company.

The campaign targets individuals, families, first-time insurance buyers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with between three and 50 employees. Jubilee said plans start from KES 3,256 per month, offering KES 200,000 inpatient cover and KES 40,000 outpatient cover, while higher-tier options provide up to KES 10 million in inpatient cover.

The rollout comes as Kenya continues to prioritise universal health coverage and financial inclusion, with insurers and regulators increasingly focused on models that reduce the upfront cost of joining insurance schemes—particularly for households that earn irregular incomes or face competing expenses.

Jubilee Health Insurance Chief Executive Officer Njeri Jomo said affordability and enrolment barriers have continued to limit private health insurance penetration, with lump-sum annual premiums cited as a key constraint for many households.

“Many Kenyans remain uninsured not because they do not value health insurance, but because cover is often seen as expensive and complex,” Ms. Jomo said. She added that the company’s intention is to simplify how customers access cover: “This is about much more than changing how customers pay. It’s about changing how customers access health insurance.”

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) said payment approaches that reflect how consumers manage cash flow could support broader uptake. IRA Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Kiptum said solutions geared toward informal sector workers and underserved households are important to improving penetration and confidence in insurance.

“Improving insurance penetration requires solutions that respond to the realities of consumer cash flow, especially among informal sector workers and underserved households,” Mr Kiptum said. “Approaches that support affordability, accessibility and consumer understanding are important in broadening inclusion and strengthening confidence in insurance.”

Jubilee said the Nairobi campaign will be delivered through a community outreach effort dubbed “Afya Mtaani,” with health advisors engaging residents directly before the model is expanded to other regions. For the market, the move underscores a wider shift by insurers toward product structures and distribution channels that reduce friction in onboarding—combining digital enrolment with on-the-ground sales and education to address low awareness and trust barriers.

The company said the initiative forms part of its growth strategy in health insurance and supports its target of covering one million lives by the end of 2027.

Jubilee Health Insurance is a subsidiary of Jubilee Holdings Limited.

Jubilee Health Insurance is expanding an instalment-based premium payment model in Nairobi to reach uninsured and underinsured Kenyans, in a move the company says is aimed at reducing affordability barriers that prevent households and small businesses from buying private health cover.

In a press release dated Friday, 3 July 2026, the insurer said the scale-up follows customer feedback indicating that while many people value health insurance, annual lump-sum premiums are difficult to pay amid other household financial obligations.

The model, branded Linda Afya Leo – Lipa Pole Pole, allows customers to activate health cover from the first payment and pay premiums over up to 10 monthly instalments, Jubilee said. The campaign targets individuals, families, first-time insurance buyers and small and medium-sized enterprises with between three and 50 employees.

Jubilee said plan pricing starts from KSh 3,256 per month, with benefits including KSh 200,000 inpatient cover and KSh 40,000 outpatient cover. The company added that higher-tier options provide up to KSh 10 million in inpatient cover.

The expansion comes as Kenya continues to pursue Universal Health Coverage and broader financial inclusion, with insurers and regulators increasingly focused on product designs that align with cash-flow patterns—particularly in the informal sector, where many workers lack predictable monthly incomes.

Jubilee Health Insurance Chief Executive Officer Njeri Jomo said the company’s approach is meant to address affordability and enrolment hurdles that have limited private health insurance penetration.

“Many Kenyans remain uninsured not because they do not value health insurance, but because cover is often seen as expensive and complex,” Ms. Jomo said. She added: “This is about much more than changing how customers pay. It’s about changing how customers access health insurance.”

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Kiptum said solutions that reflect consumer cash-flow realities would be important to increasing insurance uptake.

“Improving insurance penetration requires solutions that respond to the realities of consumer cash flow, especially among informal sector workers and underserved households,” Mr Kiptum said. “Approaches that support affordability, accessibility and consumer understanding are important in broadening inclusion and strengthening confidence in insurance.”

Jubilee said the campaign will be launched in Nairobi through an outreach initiative dubbed Afya Mtaani, which will deploy health advisors into communities before expanding to other regions. The company did not disclose the investment budget for the rollout or provide adoption targets for the Nairobi phase.

For Kenya’s insurance market, instalment-based premiums could intensify competition for lower-income and first-time buyers, a segment historically dominated by public schemes and employer-backed cover. If widely adopted, such payment structures may also increase policy persistency and widen the pool of insured lives, though they could raise operational costs related to collections and customer servicing for insurers.

Jubilee said the initiative supports its broader growth strategy in health insurance and its ambition to provide cover to one million lives by the end of 2027.

Insurance industry stakeholders are urging insurers and intermediaries to improve claims handling as Kenya’s insurance sector seeks to convert recent growth into higher public trust and wider uptake. The calls were made this week in Naivasha during Minet Kenya’s inaugural Claims Conference, held on March 19, 2026, according to a press release from the firm.

The conference brought together insurers, the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), claims assessors, loss adjusters and other market players to discuss gaps and best practices in claims management. The meeting comes after what stakeholders described as sustained growth in 2025, with industry assets surpassing KES 1 trillion and premium volumes reaching KES 352.29 billion by the third quarter of 2025, as cited in the release.

The press release said regulators have attributed the sector’s recent expansion to innovation and a growing recognition of insurance as a financial protection tool. However, it added that insurance penetration remains just above 2% of GDP, below the global average of 7%, underscoring what it described as a persistent confidence gap despite rising premium volumes.

At the conference, participants argued that the claims experience is central to how customers judge the value of insurance. They pointed to the need for clear communication, transparency and faster settlement processes as key to improving trust, particularly as product distribution and payments have increasingly moved onto digital and mobile channels.

Minet Kenya Chief Executive Officer Sammy Muthui said customer understanding and fragmentation across the claims ecosystem remain major sources of friction. “The two biggest gaps that have been known to bring friction between insurers and customers are knowledge and silos. When we place insurance covers for clients, they do not always fully understand the terms and conditions. As a result, expectations may not be met, leading to disappointment and frustration at the point of claim,” Muthui said.

He added that multiple parties involved in claims processing often operate independently, which can delay settlement. “On silos, there are many players in the ecosystem, including clients, insurance risk advisors, insurance companies, loss adjusters, loss assessors, insurance investigators and reinsurance companies. Because these players often operate in silos, there is insufficient collaboration, which can affect the smooth settlement of claims,” Muthui said.

The stakeholders also discussed technology as a way to reduce delays and disputes. The press release cited digital platforms, automation and improved data management as tools for modernising claims operations, and pointed to artificial intelligence as a potential enabler for risk assessment, fraud detection and processing efficiency.

The IRA said it is putting more emphasis on market conduct and fairness in customer treatment. Insurance Regulatory Authority Market Conduct Director Anne Chelagat said the regulator has developed a framework to guide insurer-customer relationships from onboarding through to claims. “We have developed a Treating Customers Fairly framework that provides a clear pathway for how customers should be treated throughout their journey, from onboarding to the point of making a claim,” Chelagat said.

She said the regulator is shifting towards more proactive oversight. “We are now placing greater focus on market conduct by becoming more proactive rather than reactive. This includes reassessing the relationship between insurers and their customers from the outset, as well as how both parties conduct themselves, to ensure that when a claim arises, due process is followed and the customer is treated fairly,” Chelagat said.

For Kenya’s insurance market, improved claims outcomes could influence customer retention and help lift penetration, particularly among households and small businesses that remain underinsured. Industry efforts to digitise claims could also drive operational efficiencies, but will likely require stronger data governance and better coordination among insurers, intermediaries, assessors and investigators.

Minet Kenya said stakeholders at the conference reaffirmed a commitment to working more closely across the ecosystem, with the regulator pushing operational tools aimed at translating sector growth into improved customer outcomes. The next test will be whether insurers adopt common service standards and invest in end-to-end claims transformation that matches the pace of innovation in distribution.

MUA Insurance (Kenya) Limited has relocated and upgraded its Mombasa branch to Jubilee Arcade along Moi Avenue, positioning the office within the coastal city’s central business district as part of a broader branch modernisation and national expansion strategy, the company said on March 17, 2026.

The insurer moved the branch from Zulfat Hatimy Plaza on Hatimy Road, citing the need for a more accessible location as it scales physical service points in line with rising demand for insurance among corporates, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and households.

The expansion plan comes as Kenya’s insurance industry posts steady premium growth but continues to report relatively low penetration levels compared with other financial services. According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) quarterly report cited by the company, Kenya’s insurance industry recorded gross written premiums of KES 352.29 billion by September 2025, an 11.2% year-on-year increase, while total industry assets surpassed KES 1 trillion for the first time. The same release put insurance penetration at about 2.4% of GDP, indicating room for growth as insurers broaden distribution through regional outreach and service digitisation.

Within that context, MUA said the Mombasa relocation is intended to strengthen service delivery at the Coast, a key trade and logistics corridor that serves the Port of Mombasa and regional supply chains linking Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“This investment reflects our confidence in Kenya’s long-term economic outlook and the growing importance of insurance in supporting businesses and households,” said Nixon Shigoli, CEO, MUA Insurance (Kenya). “Upgrading our branches allows us to serve customers more efficiently while reinforcing our presence in regions that are central to trade and economic growth.”

MUA said the Mombasa branch will serve businesses and households with products including property and asset insurance, motor and marine cover, liability solutions, health insurance, engineering and cyber insurance, alongside specialised covers such as aviation and political violence insurance.

The company linked its Kenya investment programme to the backing of its parent, Mauritius-based MUA Ltd (Group), which operates across six markets—Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Seychelles. In the statement, MUA said the group’s market capitalisation reached KES 9.1 billion as of December 2024, a 39% increase within 12 months.

For Kenya’s insurance market, branch upgrades and relocations remain a notable channel strategy even as firms invest in digital distribution. Physical access continues to matter for onboarding and servicing complex commercial lines—such as marine and logistics-related covers—especially in trade-heavy regions like Mombasa, where insurers target port-linked operators, traders, SMEs and households.

The IRA’s data points to an industry that is growing in volumes and balance sheets, but still has significant headroom on penetration. In that environment, insurers’ efforts to extend reach beyond Nairobi and improve service turnaround times could intensify competition in regional hubs, particularly for corporate and SME segments tied to transport, warehousing, construction and import-export activity.

MUA did not disclose the value of its Kenya branch investment or a timeline for additional branch openings. However, the company said the Mombasa move is part of an ongoing modernisation programme aimed at bringing service points closer to customers across key economic centres.