Enterprise Risk Management Maturity Levels of the Insurance Industry in Botswana

Abstract

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has become a necessity in the financial sector to fulfil stakeholder expectations. Studies confirm that ERM impacts positively on the performance of firms. The main objective of the study was to assess ERM maturity levels of the insurance industry in Botswana. This was achieved through first designing a framework to measure enterprise risk management maturity levels. The ERMMF incorporated elements from COSO’s ERM framework and the AON risk maturity model obtained through literature review. Data were sourced from four strata; 9 long term insurance companies (15 respondents), 11 short-term insurance companies (19 respondents), 3 reinsurers (5 respondents), and 44 brokerages (75 respondents). While all organisations in the population were used, a sample of 114 out of possible 134 respondents was used. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16. The findings revealed that the insurance industry in Botswana had somewhat implemented ERM. It is therefore recommended that the insurance industry in Botswana should take ERM as a continuous process for growth in ERM maturity levels as such an improvement is highly likely to enhance their performance.