The verdict in three sentences
A brokerage managing 4,000 policies and 12 partner insurers in Excel files loses money in two places: forgotten renewals and unreconciled commissions. A custom management system costs 12 to 35 million FCFA (about EUR 18,300 to 53,400) in 2026 in our reference market, Douala, with policy management, renewal reminders, commission reconciliation and CIMA format reporting. The realistic timeline is 4 to 6 months, Excel data migration included, and the same scope in Toronto typically runs two to three times higher in CAD.
What Excel can no longer do at 4,000 policies
With a few hundred contracts, a well kept spreadsheet is enough. With 4,000 policies spread across motor, health, commercial property and fleet, the limits get expensive:
- Renewal dates are tracked by hand: a 5 to 8% non-renewal rate caused by oversight is common.
- Each insurer sends commission statements in a different format, and reconciliation takes several days a month.
- Premium collections in cash, by transfer, Orange Money or MTN Mobile Money are not automatically linked to policies.
- The CIMA Code principle that cover requires payment of the premium means you must know, policy by policy, what has actually been collected.
- Statements required by the supervisory authority are rebuilt by hand, with a risk of error.
| Process | With Excel | With a dedicated system |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal reminders | Manual, monthly list | Automatic at D-30, D-15, D-5 by SMS and WhatsApp |
| Commission reconciliation | 3 to 5 days a month | A few hours, gaps flagged |
| Premium collection tracking | Separate file | Linked to each policy, multi-channel |
| Regulatory reporting | Rebuilt by hand | Export ready for review |
| Portfolio view | Occasional pivot tables | Dashboard by line and insurer |
| Access | One PC, one file | Multi-user, role-based rights |
What a brokerage system costs in 2026
Three options exist for a brokerage in Cameroon. The budgets below are 2026 orders of magnitude for Douala.
| Option | Content | 2026 budget | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adapted foreign package | Licence + configuration, poor CIMA fit | 8,000,000 to 15,000,000 FCFA + 25,000 to 60,000 FCFA per user per month | 2 to 4 months |
| Custom core | Policies, clients, renewals, reminders, collections | 12,000,000 to 18,000,000 FCFA | 4 months |
| Custom full | Core + commissions, statements, CIMA reporting, dashboard | 18,000,000 to 28,000,000 FCFA | 5 months |
| Custom advanced | Full + client portal, insurer extranet, claims | 28,000,000 to 35,000,000 FCFA | 6 months |
| Excel data migration | Cleaning, deduplication, checks | 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 FCFA | Included |
| Hosting and maintenance | Server, backups, minor changes | 150,000 to 400,000 FCFA per month | Ongoing |
Custom software costs more upfront but carries no per-user licence, and it fits local practice: mobile money collection, insurer-specific statements, reports expected by the insurance directorate.
Modules to prioritise
To keep the budget under control, the build order matters:
- Policy and client master data: one file per client, all their policies, all their insurers.
- Renewal and reminder engine: the module that pays back fastest, because every renewal recovered is a commission saved.
- Collections: matching premiums received, including via Orange Money and MTN Mobile Money.
- Commissions: import of each insurer's statements, expected amounts based on rates, gap flagging.
- Reporting: regulatory statements and management dashboard.
Mini case study
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Mrs Ngo Bassa, managing partner of a 14 person brokerage in Douala Akwa (illustrative persona), manages 4,000 policies for 3.2 billion FCFA of premiums, with an average commission of 12%.
- Non-renewals from oversight estimated at 5% of policies, i.e. about 160 million FCFA of premiums and 19.2 million FCFA of lost commissions a year.
- Conservative target: recover half through automatic reminders, i.e. 9.6 million FCFA a year.
- Unclaimed commission gaps estimated at 1% of the total, i.e. about 3.8 million FCFA a year.
- Budget: custom full at 24 million FCFA, plus 250,000 FCFA a month of maintenance (3 million a year).
- Estimated annual gain: 9.6 + 3.8 - 3 = 10.4 million FCFA, i.e. payback in just over 2 years.
FAQ
Can the system produce the statements expected by the CIMA supervisory authority?
Yes, provided the formats are defined at scoping with your chartered accountant. This usually represents 1 to 2 million FCFA of the budget and saves several days of manual work per quarter.
Can Orange Money and MTN Mobile Money collections be linked?
Yes, through merchant APIs or statement imports. Automatic matching works if every payment carries a policy reference, which is set up with one payment link per renewal.
How long does it take to migrate our Excel files?
Allow 3 to 6 weeks for 4,000 policies, in parallel with development. Cleaning duplicate clients is often the longest part.
Can partner insurers access the system?
An insurer extranet is possible in the advanced option, for about 4 to 7 million FCFA. It lets you exchange statements and certificates without email.
Where is policyholder data hosted?
On a server chosen with you, in Cameroon or with a recognised cloud provider, with encrypted daily backups. Hosting runs 50,000 to 150,000 FCFA a month.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of policies, insurers and users: we will scope the priority modules with an indicative budget of 12 to 35 million FCFA and a 4 to 6 month timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
