With regulators across East Africa enforcing stricter compliance standards, led by the IRA’s Risk-Based Capital framework, Market Conduct Guidelines, and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner’s sector-specific guidelines, insurance firms are racing against time to audit their workflows.
Certifications such as ISO 9001:2015 allows insurance firms to directly addressing new operational and regulatory requirements.
According to AAR Insurance CEO and Principal Officer, Justine Kosgei, achieving such a certification is a, “promise to the market” that behind every insurance policy lies an audited, world-class operational engine.
“By standardising our processes, we have cut outpatient approvals to 10 minutes and inpatient admissions to 30 minutes, proving that a digital-first, purpose-led insurance model is the most resilient engine to close East Africa’s protection gap,” Kosgei said.
AAR insurance firm has attained ISO 9001:2015, an internationally recognised “quality management system” standard that specifies requirements for an organisation to consistently provide services that meet customer and applicable legal and regulatory requirements through disciplined, audited processes.
The certification follows independent Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits across regional operations. It was conducted by global certification body Bureau Veritas alongside implementation partner Ace Analytiq, and establishes an internationally audited operating standard for policy underwriting, claims adjudication, consumer data privacy, and governance.
The framework codifies every internal workflow into a repeatable, accountable system designed to eliminate process waste, prevent operational errors, and elevate service speed at the point of customer need.
“Operational discipline de-risks our business and supports our adoption of the global IFRS S1 (General Sustainability) and IFRS S2 (Climate Disclosures) standards,” AAR Insurance Group Chief Financial Officer, Hosea Kiprop, said.
Mr. Kiprop added that focus on operational efficiency has delivered a 60 percent reduction in paper consumption, driven a 12 percent drop in administrative overheads, and supported “A Tree, A Life” initiative, which has grown over 96,000 trees with an audited 93 percent survival rate while creating 719 local jobs.
AAR is currently scaling regionally, transitioning its General Insurance Uganda Limited into a fully licensed non-life underwriter and entering the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The insurance firm says quality certification acts as a standardised operational blueprint, and is an assurance that it offers consistent service quality across borders
“It proves that sustainable governance builds long-term shareholder value,” Kiprop said.
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