By Favour Nnabugwu
Two insurance companies is said to control 50 percent of life market in Cameroon. They Allianz and Prudential Beneficial Life Insurance
Cameroon, the life insurance market generated a XAF70.6 billion turnover for companies operating in the sector, in 2020.
According to the activity report recently published by the Ministry of Finance, 50 percent of the turnover was generated by two of the eleven companies operating in the sector. They are Allianz Cameroon and Prudential Beneficial Life Insurance Cameroun.
Allianz, leader of the local market, recorded a XAF20.2 billion turnover, representing 28.62% of the overall turnover in the market segment that year. This figure is up by XAF300 million compared with the XAF19.9 billion the firm recorded in 2019.
With 21.3% of the life insurance market share in Cameroon in 2020, Prudential Beneficial recorded a XAF15.07 billion turnover in 2020, up by XAF2.1 billion year-on-year. This significant increase in its turnover can be explained by the shift in majority partner that occurred in June 2019 with Prudential taking over US firm Beneficial’s shares in the insurance company.
According to figures published by the Ministry of Finance, in 2020, Prudential Beneficial recorded the largest increase in its market share since 2016. Indeed, in 2016 and 2017, the company was only controlling 19% of the local life insurance market. In 2018 and 2019, that share jumped to 20.08%.
The additional grounds being gained by Prudential should be a concern for market leader Allianz, which has been losing ground since 2016. In its report, the Ministry of Finance shows that due to the tough competition, Allianz lost 5.76% of market share between 2016 and 2020 even though its turnover rose by XAF2 billion between the same period.
Specifically, its turnover rose from XAF18.6 billion in 2016 to XAF20.2 billion in 2020. At the same time, its rival Prudential posted a XAF10.3 billion in 2016 and XAF15.07 billion in 2020 (up by XAF5 billion between the two periods).
