Mozambique: Climate change requires agricultural insurance debate – ISSM

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Mozambique: Climate change requires agricultural insurance debate – ISSM

10:28 CAT | 19 Sep 2025

Photo: Instituto de Supervisão de Seguros de Moçambique (ISSM)

The president of Mozambique’s Insurance Supervision Institute (ISSM) on Thursday called for an urgent discussion on agricultural insurance, saying that it should be a political priority given the impact of climate change.

“In 2025, a new systemic risk will be imposed: climate change. For Mozambique, this is an extremely urgent issue, and the need for parametric [climate index] and agricultural insurance is tending to stop being an academic discourse and become a political priority,” said the president of ISSM, Esther José, in Maputo, at the opening of the 29th Annual Conference of the Association of Lusophone Insurance Supervisors (ASEL).

At the conference, which will run until Tuesday and brings together eight Lusophone jurisdictions and Macau to discuss regulation, technology and new risks in the insurance sector, the head of the Mozambican regulator pointed to the evolution of ASEL’s agenda over the last ten years, currently focusing on the impacts of digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

“Artificial intelligence is proving to be a transformative force that tends to redefine risk underwriting and claims management, bringing new regulatory challenges (…) The challenge is now to combine technology to create personalised and accessible products, ensuring that consumers use them consciously,” she added.

Esther José said she wanted insurance to be increasingly involved in megaprojects, such as gas exploration, which are underway in Mozambique.

The president of Mozambique’s Insurance Supervisory Institute took over the rotating presidency of the Association of Lusophone Insurance Supervisors (ASEL) on Wednesday, for a one-year term.

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According to the organisation, the ASEL conference is expected to discuss mechanisms for cooperation between regulators, strengthen technical capacities, and address the need for coordinated responses to systemic risks affecting Lusophone economies.

As part of the conference, the insurance regulators of Mozambique and Angola will conduct staff training and implement technical assistance mechanisms to participate in major projects in the two countries, according to a cooperation protocol signed on Monday in Maputo.

Through this protocol, the Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency (ARSEG) and ISSM “reinforce their commitment to intensify the exchange of technical and regulatory information, promote joint training and capacity building of their staff and develop mutual technical assistance mechanisms in areas such as supervision, corporate governance and information systems,” Esther José said on Monday.

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The head of ISSM emphasised on that date that the two Portuguese-speaking African countries share the challenge of deepening the penetration of insurance and pensions, stressing that the signing of this protocol places the markets of Mozambique and Angola before “the strategic imperative of developing local content and ensuring that the national insurance market has the capacity to actively participate in the management of the risks of major projects”.

Source: Lusa