Assessment of enterprise risk management maturity levels of the insurance industry in Botswana

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to develop an Enterprise Risk Management Maturity Framework (ERMMF) for use in the assessment of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) maturity levels of the insurance industry in Botswana. The ERMMF incorporated elements from the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)’s ERM framework and the AON risk maturity model. Five criteria were utilised to define each of the eight components of ERM used to measure ERM maturity levels. The framework was developed qualitatively through literature review. The ERMMF was tested empirically to evaluate the ERM maturity levels of the insurance industry in Botswana. Data was collected from 12 respondents from long-term insurance companies, 15 from short-term insurance companies, 4 from reinsurers and 59 from brokerages. The findings revealed that the whole insurance industry is at the Defined stage of ERM maturity level as the responses bordered around 3 on the developed scale of measurement. The findings implied that the insurance sector in Botswana has generally implemented ERM but not enough follow-ups had been made to ensure that ERM became a continuous process. Results further indicated that although the whole sector was at the defined stage of ERM, the responses in each component differed per stratum. Literature indicates that insurance organisations, regardless of stratum within which they are, are faced with similar risks generally. The differing responses could be due to the magnitude of risks that could differ according to unique characteristics of each stratum. The study further recommended an enterprise risk management implementation procedure for the insurance industry in Botswana.