Combining insurance and religion; those sound like two totally different and difficult concepts to combine. Fortunately that is not true. The combination of these two has led to a new type of insurance product referred to as Takaful. The students at the School of Finance and Applied Economics (SFAE) got to understand this new type of insurance from the expert of Takaful himself, Hassan Scott Odierno who is an actuary in Malaysia.

 

Takaful there has been well received in the market place and Hassan Odierno has been involved in setting up Takaful companies across the world. Takaful in a nutshell is maintaining the purpose of insurance which is restoring an individual to the position that they were in before an accident occurred in line with Islamic principles.

 

The unique feature about Takaful that has made it attractive to Muslims as well as non-Muslims alike is the surplus sharing. Picture this, you make no claim to the insurance company and as a reward you get back a portion of your money. Most insurance companies don’t do that. With majority of Kenyans living below the poverty line, Takaful at the micro-level looks and definitely presents a very attractive product for insurance companies to offer. At the end of the day we all need insurance regardless of how much money we make ands this might be the solution to the insurance penetration in Kenya improving.

 

In Kenya, currently there is one Takaful insurance company that has been set up and is doing very well. In Hassan Scott words, Takaful will work out in Kenya. What makes Hassan so sure? ‘His passion for Takaful as well as the success story that he has helped built by Takaful working in Malaysia.’

 

I guess we have to wait and see and while at it probably visit the Takaful Insurance company in Kenya.