I recently walked into an Absa Bank branch in Lugogo for what was supposed to be a routine business conversation. While I waited, a pleasant, smooth-talking lady approached me with a simple question:
“Do you have life insurance?”
What followed was not the kind of casual small talk one usually expects while waiting at a bank branch. In a matter of minutes, she had walked me through a range of insurance options—life cover, family protection, and medical insurance—explaining the benefits, the costs, and the peace of mind these products promise.
She spoke with the ease and confidence of someone who had clearly done this many times before.
A few weeks earlier, I had encountered almost the exact same scenario at dfcu Bank.
What struck me most about these encounters was not simply that banks were selling insurance. It was how natural and integrated the process had become. Just as relationship managers discuss loans, savings accounts, and investment products, insurance is now being offered almost seamlessly as part of the financial conversation.
For many Ugandans, this represents a quiet but profound shift in how insurance is distributed. Historically, insurance policies were primarily sold through agents and brokers, with customers often having to actively seek out coverage. Today, however, banks are beginning to leverage their most powerful assets: vast branch networks, deep customer relationships, and detailed knowledge of their clients’ financial lives.
In other words, the insurance industry may be witnessing the rapid rise of a formidable new sales force—banks themselves.
Consider the case of dfcu Bank, which recently partnered with Jubilee Health Insurance to launch dfcu BlueCare, a comprehensive medical insurance solution designed to make healthcare protection more accessible and affordable for Ugandans.
The product offers four plan tiers—Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Bronze—allowing customers to select coverage based on their needs and affordability. Premiums start from around UGX 981,000 per year, roughly UGX 2,800 per day, making comprehensive healthcare protection accessible to more Ugandans.
Coverage includes inpatient and outpatient services, dental and optical benefits, maternity cover, management of chronic conditions, telemedicine support, and even funeral benefits.
The product reflects a broader ambition among banks to integrate insurance into everyday financial services.
At the launch of the product, dfcu Bank’s leadership framed the initiative as part of the institution’s broader purpose of transforming lives and businesses in Uganda, emphasizing that strong families and thriving enterprises depend heavily on good health and financial protection.
Behind such initiatives lies a stark national reality. In a country of about 45 million people, only about half a million Ugandans currently have medical insurance, leaving the vast majority of households financially exposed to health emergencies.
Banks see an opportunity in that gap.
With millions of account holders interacting with them through branches, digital banking platforms, loans, and savings products, banks already possess what insurers have traditionally struggled to build—distribution reach and trusted financial relationships.
And that is where the insurance landscape is quietly beginning to shift.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The encounters in bank branches may appear anecdotal, but the numbers suggest something much larger is underway.
Over the past decade, bancassurance has emerged as one of the fastest-growing insurance distribution channels in Uganda, and its rise is beginning to reshape how insurance is sold across the country.
In 2018, bancassurance generated just UGX 26 billion in premiums, representing about 3 percent of the industry’s total gross written premiums.
By 2025, that figure had surged to UGX 302.3 billion, giving banks nearly 15 percent of Uganda’s insurance market.
That represents an extraordinary transformation.
In just seven years, bancassurance premiums have increased more than elevenfold, translating into a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 42 percent.
To put that growth in perspective, Uganda’s entire insurance industry has also been expanding steadily. Total industry gross written premiums grew from UGX 859.9 billion in 2018 to about UGX 2.02 trillion in 2025, more than doubling over the same period.
This represents a CAGR of approximately 13 percent for the overall insurance industry.
While this growth is impressive, it is still far slower than the pace at which bancassurance is expanding.
In other words, banks are not simply riding the wave of industry growth — they are significantly outperforming it.
Insurance brokers tell a more nuanced story.
Broker-generated premiums have grown from UGX 273.2 billion in 2018 to about UGX 564.8 billion in 2025, meaning brokers are still writing substantially more business than before.
However, their growth has been considerably slower than both the industry and the bancassurance channel.
Over the same seven-year period, broker premiums expanded at a compound annual growth rate of about 11 percent, slightly below the overall industry growth rate.
This difference in growth momentum is gradually shifting the structure of the market.
In 2018, brokers accounted for roughly 32 percent of total industry premiums. By 2025, their share had declined to about 27.9 percent.
The change may appear modest, but in a rapidly expanding market even a few percentage points represent hundreds of billions of shillings shifting toward new distribution channels.
The story the numbers ultimately tell is not one of decline, but of changing competitive dynamics.
Brokers are still growing. The industry is expanding. But banks are growing faster than both.
And as bancassurance continues to scale, the balance of power in Uganda’s insurance distribution landscape is quietly beginning to shift.
Why Banks Are Winning the Bancassurance Race
To understand why bancassurance is expanding so rapidly, one must look at the structural advantages banks bring to the insurance business.
The first advantage is customer access.
Banks already serve millions of Ugandans through deposit accounts, loans, digital payments, and investment products. These existing relationships give them immediate access to customers who already trust them with their money.
Instead of searching for clients, banks simply cross-sell insurance to customers they already know.
Second, banks possess data and financial insight that few brokers can match. They understand their customers’ income patterns, borrowing behaviour, spending habits, and financial life cycles. This allows them to identify precisely when insurance might be needed.
A mortgage customer may be offered life insurance. A vehicle loan applicant may be guided toward motor insurance. A salaried professional may be introduced to medical cover.
Insurance becomes not a separate purchase but a natural extension of financial services.
Third is the power of distribution scale.
Uganda’s major banks operate hundreds of branches nationwide, supported by mobile banking platforms, relationship managers, and corporate banking teams. When insurance products are embedded within this infrastructure, distribution becomes both wide and efficient.
World Bank bans PwC Africa, Rwanda and Kenya affiliates from Bank Group-financed projects over fraudulent practicesThis scale advantage is already visible in the market, where a small group of large banks now dominate the bancassurance channel thanks to their extensive customer bases and nationwide networks.
Finally, banks benefit from brand trust.
Many Ugandans already rely on their banks for savings, credit, and financial advice. When insurance is offered within that trusted environment, the barrier to adoption is significantly lower.
For customers who may not fully understand insurance products, the bank branch often becomes the easiest place to explore them.
Should Insurance Brokers Be Worried?
Despite the rapid rise of bancassurance, insurance brokers remain a critical pillar of Uganda’s insurance ecosystem.
In 2025 alone, brokers generated approximately UGX 564.8 billion in premiums, accounting for about 27.9 percent of the industry’s UGX 2.02 trillion gross written premiums.
In absolute terms, that makes brokers the single largest organised distribution channel in the insurance industry, even as new competitors emerge.
But beneath this headline number lies a structural shift that reveals both strength and vulnerability.
The brokerage market itself is becoming increasingly concentrated.
Uganda currently has over 50 licensed brokerage firms, yet the industry is heavily dominated by a small group of large players. The top five brokers—Clarkson Insurance Brokers, Minet Uganda Insurance Broker, Afrisafe Insurance Brokers & Risk Consultants, Willis Towers Watson Uganda, and ARIS Risk Solutions—control roughly 63.34 percent of total brokerage commissions.
When the top ten firms are included, their collective share rises to about 79.23 percent of the entire brokerage market.
That leaves more than 40 smaller brokerage firms competing for barely one-fifth of industry commissions, with many holding less than 1 percent market share each.
In fact, the long tail is so thin that the bottom ten brokers together account for less than 1 percent of total commissions, underscoring how sharply the market tilts toward the largest intermediaries.
This level of concentration suggests that the real competitive pressure in the coming years will not be evenly distributed across the brokerage industry.
Large, well-capitalised brokers with strong corporate relationships may remain relatively insulated. But smaller brokers operating in retail or SME segments could face growing pressure as banks expand their insurance distribution capabilities.
Banks are particularly effective at selling standardised, high-volume insurance products such as health insurance, motor insurance, travel cover, and simple life policies.
These are precisely the segments where many smaller brokers traditionally operate.
By contrast, brokers retain a significant advantage in more complex areas of risk.
Large corporations, infrastructure projects, aviation operators, energy companies, and engineering firms often require highly specialised insurance structuring, risk advisory services, and negotiation with multiple insurers.
These are sophisticated risk environments that require technical expertise and customised solutions—capabilities that banks, despite their distribution power, are not yet structured to provide at scale.
In these segments, brokers remain not just relevant but indispensable.
However, the rise of bancassurance means that the brokerage industry is increasingly competing on expertise rather than distribution reach.
And that shift is likely to reshape the industry.
The Next Decade: Fewer but Stronger Brokers
What appears to be emerging is not the disappearance of insurance brokers, but rather a restructuring of the brokerage industry itself.
Insurance brokerage is here to stay.
However, the competitive pressures from bancassurance, digital distribution platforms, and embedded financial services are likely to accelerate consolidation across the sector.
The numbers already hint at this trajectory.
With over 50 brokerage firms operating in Uganda but nearly 80 percent of commissions concentrated among just ten firms, the market structure suggests that scale and capability are becoming increasingly decisive factors for survival.
Smaller brokers that lack strong corporate client bases, technological capacity, or specialised advisory capabilities may find it difficult to compete in an environment where banks can distribute insurance products through hundreds of branches, millions of customer accounts, and rapidly expanding digital banking platforms.
Meanwhile, bancassurance itself is becoming concentrated around a handful of powerful institutions. The top five banks—Centenary Bank, Absa, Stanbic Bank, dfcu Bank, and Equity Bank—collectively account for roughly 63.49 percent of bancassurance premiums, illustrating how distribution power is increasingly tied to large financial institutions with national reach.
Taken together, these trends suggest that Uganda’s insurance distribution landscape may be moving toward two parallel forms of concentration:
- A small group of dominant banks controlling the bancassurance channel
- A smaller number of highly specialised brokerage firms serving complex corporate risk markets
Between these two poles, many mid-tier and smaller intermediaries may struggle to maintain relevance.
The next decade may therefore see a wave of consolidation across the brokerage sector.
Some firms may close down. Others may merge. Many could eventually be acquired by larger brokerage houses seeking scale, expertise, or expanded client portfolios.
In the end, the industry may evolve toward fewer but stronger brokers—firms that compete not through distribution volume but through deep technical expertise, risk advisory capability, and specialised industry knowledge.
Meanwhile, banks are likely to continue expanding their role as insurance distributors, embedding insurance products into everyday financial services through loan products, digital banking platforms, salary accounts, and mobile applications.
What began as a quiet sales conversation in a bank branch may therefore represent something much bigger.
It may be a glimpse into the future structure of Uganda’s insurance market.
And if current trends continue, the question facing the industry may no longer be whether banks are entering the insurance business.
It may be how much of the industry they will eventually control.
Insurance brokers vs. Bancassurance (2018-2025)
| Year | Total Industry GWP (UGX bn) | Brokers GWP (UGX Bn) | Broker Share of Total Industry Premiums | Bancassurance GWP (UGX Bn) | Bancassurance Share of Total Industry Premiums |
| 2018 | 859.9 | 273.2 | 32% | 26 | 3% |
| 2019 | 974.4 | 280.5 | 28.8% | 53.6 | 5.5% |
| 2020 | 1,065.4 | 329.91 | 34.88% | 83.34 | 7.83% |
| 2021 | 1,183.8 | 377.04 | 31.8% | 103.54 | 8.8% |
| 2022 | 1,440.7 | 453.5 | 31.5% | 142.7 | 9.9% |
| 2023 | 1,603.3 | 516.54 | 32.22% | 179.5 | 12.56% |
| 2024 | 1,763.2 | 545.63 | 30.94% | 225 | 12.76% |
| 2025 | 2,024.6 | 564.8 | 27.9% | 302.3 | 14.93% |
Concentration Risk
- As at the end of 2024, the top 5 out of 56.81 brokerage firms accounted for 57.77% of gross commissions in 2024. These included Clarkson, Minet, Afrisafe Risk Consultants, Willis Towers Watson, and ARiS Risks Solutions & Insurance Brokers Ltd. The bottom 10 companies accounted for only 0.97%, and over 30 companies did not register a share of at least 1% of the total gross commission.
- The Q4 2025 insurance brokerage market shows a high level of concentration, with the top five brokers controlling about 63.34% of total gross commissions. These firms are Clarkson Insurance Brokers, Minet Uganda Insurance Broker, Afrisafe Insurance Brokers & Risk Consultants, Willis Towers Watson Uganda, and ARIS Risk Solutions & Insurance Brokers.
The top ten brokers together account for approximately 79.23% of the market, indicating that a small group of firms dominates the industry. In contrast, most of the remaining brokers hold less than 1% market share each, reflecting a long tail of smaller players with limited influence. Compared to 2024, when the top five held 57.77%, concentration has increased, suggesting growing dominance by the largest brokerage firms in the market.
- The bancassurance market in Q4 2025 exhibits a notable level of concentration, with a small number of banks accounting for a large share of insurance premiums distributed through banking channels.
The top five bancassurers—Centenary Bank, Absa, Stanbic Bank, DFCU, and Equity Bank—collectively control about 63.49% of total bancassurance premiums, indicating that a significant portion of the market is dominated by a few leading institutions. Meanwhile, several smaller players hold minimal market presence, with five institutions recording less than 1% market share each, reflecting a long tail of minor contributors.
This structure suggests that the bancassurance ecosystem is heavily influenced by the distribution capacity and customer bases of the largest banks, creating potential concentration risk should any of these dominant institutions reduce or shift their insurance distribution activities.
