MEFMI delivers an In-Country Workshop on Insurance Stress Testing to the Insurance and Pensions Commission of Zimbabwe

MEFMI conducted a capacity building event in Harare from  11-12 April 2024 as part of a technical assistance mission to develop and operationalise a stress testing framework for the Insurance and Pensions Commission of Zimbabwe (IPEC)

The technical assistance aimed to calibrate a bottom-up stress testing insurance framework that was developed for the Bank of Rwanda in 2023 to align with the Zimbabwean insurance solvency regime. The workshop therefore sought to empower IPEC’s technical staff to operationalise the stress testing framework. Officials from IPEC including staff from the Pensions and Life Assurance, Insurance, Actuarial and AML/CFT, Finance and Risk departments attended the event. Of these officials, 48 percent were female, and the remaining 52 percent were male.

Knowledge shared during the event included concepts of stress testing including principles and processes of conducting stress testing; applied cases from the IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), a detailed walkthrough of the stress testing tool including the structure and required inputs, and a brief introduction of macro-financial scenario design and a demonstration on interest rate scenario building. During the event, the lead resource person  led a discussion on risk factors and how their calibration aligned with the Zimbabwean insurance solvency regime. Additionally, suggestions on enhancing draft regulations of the Zimbabwean solvency regime were discussed.

Dr Patrick Mutimba, Director of Financial Sector Management at MEFMI, and Mr Cuthbert Munjoma, Director of Pensions and Life Insurance at IPEC graced the event. In his  opening remarks, Dr Mutimba complimented IPEC for taking  steps to incorporate stress testing in its supervisory processes while Mr Munjoma thanked MEFMI for organising the stress testing capacity building initiative.

Prepared by Glory Kasasi (Mrs), Program Manager.