Take up insurance cover, we are tired of contributing to buy coffins when you die, ZAM President tells Musicians

The Zambia Association of Musicians has urged Musicians to take up insurance policies to avoid destitution upon retirement.

Association President Davison Musanda said Musicians must ensure that they secure themselves financially by signing up to insurance policies and other financial products.

Mr. Musanda said the music fraternity is now tired of soliciting for donations from well-wishers when burying some of their departed colleagues who may have died in poverty.

“The K200,000 you are making today because you a star will not be there forever, invest and use it wisely so that when that time comes, your family does not start asking your fans to donate to buy your coffin,” Mr. Musanda said.

He was speaking in Lusaka yesterday when ZAM, Bestlife Insurance and Norwich Insurance Brokers signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to provide affordable insurance policies to fully paid-up members of ZAM.

“This is a great opportunity for us Musicians to start preparing for our future. If I invest that K200, 000 I am making very weekend because I have some hits that are playing everywhere, I can look my income for the next five to ten years to allow me to take care of my family,” he said.

And officiating at the signing ceremony, Ministry of Youth and Arts Permanent Secretary Fumba Chama said government wants to transform the arts sector from a social sector to an economic sector with increased GDP contribution.

Mr. Fumba commended Bestlife Insurance and Norwich to taking up the challenge of providing insurance services to Musicians saying this is a great step towards formalising the arts sector.

He said recognises the immense potential that the creative sector has in transforming lives especially for young people.

Mr. Fumba said he is impressed that Bestlife and Norwich worked closely with ZAM to actualise the MoU that will serve the broader interests of musicians.

“When we talk of transforming the industry, this is what we mean. Government does not have the monopoly of wisdom, we need ideas from the private sector and ordinary citizens and Bestlife and Norwich have stepped up to offer a real solution to a real problem. As artistes, it’s not good that we are known to be beggars, we need to change how we are perceived,” Mr Fumba said.

Meanwhile, Bestlife Insurance Zambia Chief Executive Officer Christabel Michel said her firm will continue developing tailor made insurance products in order to increase the penetrative rate of insurance in the current from the current 6%.

She said, “As Bestlife, we believe that life insurance should not be complicated. As a nation, we have struggled with low insurance penetrative levels for years. According to the last Finscope survey, only 6% of Zambians have insurance cover. As a matter of fact, the penetrative rate for life insurance is even lower at less than 2%.”

“For us at Bestlife, we believe that the way insurance is accessed is a key component in bridging the penetration gap. Access to insurance products should be simple and affordable to increase penetration. We are determined to make it easier for Zambians to access this important service. It is for this reason that we have come up with a lot of innovative products that are simple and affordable for all Zambia. Our ability to tailor make products to suit the Zambian public remains our greatest strength.”

And in a vote of thanks, Brian Bwembya aka B-Flow described the move as a cure for depression which had affected many musicians when they are no longer able to earn a decent income.

“As Musicians, we are very egoistic and sometimes we fail to open up when we are going through a life patch and in the end, we suffer depression and we die. Now we are saying, insurance tailor made for us is here and we should all sign up,” Bwembya said.