Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has hailed the Insurance and Pensions Commission for emerging from Zimbabwe’s most turbulent economic period into a modern, risk-based regulator, as the Commission launched commemorations to mark its 20th anniversary
Speaking at the launch cocktail in Harare on Friday, Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Kudakwashe Mnangagwa said IPEC’s two-decade journey reflected resilience, institutional learning and steady reform in a sector central to protecting livelihoods, mobilising long-term savings and supporting national development
The Deputy Minister said IPEC’s formative years were shaped by severe macroeconomic instability, including hyperinflation, which coincided with its separation from the Ministry of Finance in 2006.
At the time, he said, the Commission lacked sufficient actuarial, risk management, accounting, legal and ICT capacity to effectively regulate an increasingly complex insurance and pensions industry
“These challenges form part of IPEC’s history. However, what defines IPEC today is not those early constraints, but the strength, maturity and capability it has built over time,” he said, adding that the anniversary should focus less on past shortcomings and more on how the institution adapted and evolved
Deputy Minister Mnangagwa acknowledged that legacy issues linked to value erosion in long-term contracts remained difficult and deeply entrenched, noting that rebuilding public trust in insurance and pensions was neither quick nor easy.
However, he said IPEC had approached these issues with professional integrity, transparency and pragmatism, introducing reforms aimed at improving benefit adequacy, strengthening governance and enhancing disclosures to policyholders and pension fund members
He said sustained Government support, combined with board oversight and management resolve, had enabled IPEC to build a strong multidisciplinary team aligned with international best practice.
This, he added, had allowed the Commission to move from reactive regulation towards proactive, evidence-driven and risk-based supervision
Beyond traditional regulation, Deputy Minister Mnangagwa said IPEC had embraced a developmental mandate by promoting financial inclusion, climate-risk mitigation, innovation and long-term investment mobilisation, demonstrating that regulation could be both protective and enabling.
