SAIA welcomes FSTC’s State of Transformation Report 2018/19 and 2019/20

Johannesburg - The South African Insurance Association (SAIA) welcomes the release of the Financial Sector Transformation Council’s (FSTC) State of Transformation Annual Report as Amalgamated for 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial periods. The report was published on 10 May 2022. 

While the pace of transformation as broadly defined remained slower than the financial sector planned, it is pleasing to note that the sector has continued to make positive strides in advancing transformation. 

In fact, most of the sub-sectors included under the broad definition of the financial sector have demonstrated positive performance when comparing the two years under review.

SAIA believes that more encouraging is the positive performances demonstrated by the organisations that are market leaders in each sub-sector. The leaders have performed significantly above the average overall performance. 

This is a display of tangible commitment by the sector leaders to remain at the forefront of driving transformation as a national imperative. This progress aligns with observations by the FSTC’s Chairperson on the sector’s steady progress in contributing towards a transformed society and that “the duty to provide transformational leadership lies heavily on the shoulders of the sector and its leaders”.

However, it must be acknowledged that more still needs to be done by the sector to drive transformation in areas including Ownership, Management Control, Skills Development and Access to Financial Services. Contributions by the smaller players in the sector certainly need to be accelerated. 

Transformation is one of the non-life insurance industry’s priority areas. SAIA has been mandated by its Board to identify and coordinate industry initiatives aimed at assisting members to contribute to accelerating transformation of the financial sector. 

SAIA’s contributions include significant contributions to the reform of supplier panels project led by the Competition Commission, as well as a partnership with Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (InSeta) and the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) to address industry skills needs.

SAIA has also played a pivotal role in sectoral engagements and demonstrated commitment in supporting the Department of Employment and Labour’s objective to drive people transformation through the Amendment of the Employment Equity Act. 

The association has continued to engage relevant stakeholders on the gazetting process to ensure successful adoption and implementation of the proposed changes to the Act. 

Other projects include industry data collation on dimensions of transformation pertinent to the industry and significant contributions towards the revision of the Financial Sector Code elements that present leadership opportunities for the industry. 

The FSTC 2018/19 and 2019/20 report provides the sector with a clearer baseline in terms of its performance, highlighting areas that require more commitment. 

It largely remains the responsibility of all the FSTC’s constituencies, which include business, government, and social partners, to collaborate in ensuring that the sector adopts and implements the transformation framework provided by the Financial Sector Code. Successful implementation will drive sustainability of the sector and meaningfully contribute to economic growth, social development, and promotion of an inclusive society.

Herewith link to the FSTC 2018/19 and 2019/20 Report.