In knowledge-based societies, manufacturing does not play anymore a primary role in economy like it used to do in the past. Many economists have questioned the model of industrialization that most of developing and less developed countries are following today. Dani Rodrik for instance warned that the rush to industrialization by the latecomers in the development process, so to catch up with industrialized ones, requires huge investments in skill and capital development that, in turn, need the mobilization of significant financial resources, and above all... they need time. They therefore suggest to explore alternative development models leapfrogging manufacturing and go straight to a service-based economy. This is actually what happened in Africa, where in the last two decades most of workers have moved from low-productivity sectors like agriculture to services, differently from Asia, where they mainly shifted to industry. Some African nations have definitevly focused on the service sector to promote their growth: this is the case of Rwanda. This is often indicated as a paradox of the African development experience. Has it worked? No. But...

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The insurance sector in Africa (in both the life and non-life segment) is largely underdeveloped and in its early stages of development, this is known. But many economic analysts concur on the fact that this is also one of the sectors with the highest profitability rate and growth potential, in a continent where the insurance penetration is currently only 3,1% (2022 data), i.e., less than half of the global average, according to data from Statista.

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