Ecobank’s Grace Muliisa Tells Africa’s Insurers: “Customer Experience Is Not a Cost — It’s Your Advantage”

“The future of insurance is not about policies and premiums. It is about experiences,” Grace Muliisa, Managing Director of Ecobank Uganda, told leading insurance industry players gathered at the 47th Organisation of Eastern and Southern Africa Insurers (OESAI) Annual Conference & AGM.

In her keynote address to more than 300 regulators, insurers, reinsurers, and industry executives gathered at the luxurious lakeside Speke Resort Convention Centre in Munyonyo, by the shores of Lake Victoria, Muliisa’s central message was clear: in the insurance business of tomorrow, customer experience will be the ultimate differentiator — and those who get it right will win.

Her keynote, delivered under the conference theme “The Future of Customer Experience in Insurance”, urged the sector to stop treating customer experience as a compliance box or a cost centre, and start seeing it as a growth engine.

OESAI is a Nairobi-headquartered, member-based organisation that promotes the business and practice of insurance and reinsurance across the region. Its mandate spans advocacy, research, technical and leadership skills development, and promoting best practices within the industry. With members drawn from insurance and reinsurance companies, brokers, regulators, and training institutions, OESAI serves as a regional platform for cooperation, knowledge-sharing, and capacity-building, with the ultimate aim of strengthening insurance penetration and resilience across Eastern and Southern Africa.

Using an example of South African Discovery Health, Muliisa said the insurer has redefined what customer experience in insurance can look like.

“They don’t just insure risk—they reward healthy and safe behaviour. Through their Vitality programs, customers who eat well, drive safely, or save money are rewarded tangibly. They use AI and data to personalise services in real time—making every interaction matter,” she said.

“The result? Not only happier customers, but a 500% return on investment from their digital innovations. Discovery proves that when you put the customer at the centre, experience is not a cost—it is an advantage,” she told delegates about the South African insurer’s innovation-led success.

She argued that similar innovation is within reach for Africa’s insurers. “If mobile money could reimagine banking in less than a decade, why can’t we reimagine insurance?”

A Human Story to Frame the Stakes

Muliisa opened with a vivid, human example:

“It’s late evening. You are a boda boda rider in Kampala. After a long day, a car swerves — you crash. Your bike, your only source of income, is destroyed. Without insurance, your family is in crisis within days. But imagine another reality — you file a claim on your phone in minutes, and by the time you leave the hospital, the money to repair or replace your bike is already in your account. Life is disrupted — but not destroyed. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the power of customer experience in insurance. And that is the future we must build together.”

For Muliisa, insurance is not just a financial product — it is a promise. “Like every promise, it is only truly tested at one critical moment: the point of claim. That is the moment where trust is either built or broken.”

The New African Customer: Young, Digital, and Demanding

She underscored the urgency of transformation by pointing to Africa’s demographic reality. “Today’s African customer is young, digital, and impatient. More than 60% are under 25. They compare, they question, they demand. They don’t want 20 forms. They don’t want silence after a claim. They want speed, clarity, simplicity — and above all, trust.”

Referencing the mobile money revolution, she added: “During the pandemic, people learned to bank online, shop online, consult doctors online. Now, they expect the same from insurance — they want it to feel as easy as mobile money, or booking a ride on Uber.”

Four Pillars to Build the Future

Her prescription for the sector’s reinvention rests on four pillars:

1. Digital Transformation – “AI, mobile apps, blockchain — these are not buzzwords. They are the tools that will make insurance instant and frictionless.”
2. Personalisation Through Data – “No more one-size-fits-all. We need micro-insurance for farmers, pay-as-you-go health cover, usage-based motor policies.”
3. Partnerships & Ecosystems – “The future belongs to collaboration — insurers with banks, fintechs, telcos, regulators, and governments.”
4. Inclusion & Access – “With penetration below 3% in Africa, the biggest opportunity lies in reaching the underserved. The winners will be those who insure the many, not the few.”

From Banking Transformation to Insurance Inspiration

Muliisa, who is famous for turning around Ecobank Uganda from a loss-making, low-visibility institution into a profitable, competitive player, says the journey was largely anchored on redefining customer experiences. When she took over in 2021, the bank was shrinking its loan book, losing deposits, and posting deep annual losses. In just three years, she restored profitability, rebuilt governance, modernised operations, and embedded a culture of Respect, Accountability, Customer Centricity, Excellence, Integrity, and Teamwork (RACEIT) across the organisation.

“The question every customer asks is the same: ‘Will insurance keep its promise?’ That is the moment where trust is either built or broken.”

A Call to Action

Closing her keynote, Muliisa challenged the industry to act boldly:
“It is no longer enough to sell policies. We must build relationships. We must earn trust. We must design experiences that make insurance relevant and valuable in the daily lives of Africans.”

Her final words resonated like a rallying cry:
“Do not just discuss the future — build it. Because if we get customer experience right, we will not only transform companies. We will transform communities. We will transform Africa. That is the future worth building. And together — we can make it happen.”