By Favour Nnabugwu
Reinsurance in Africa are making a headway in their operations as the African reinsurance were ranked among the top 100 world reinsurance.
The three reinsurers from Africa ranked Africa Re 55th position Continental Re 91st and WAICA Re 97th among top reinsurers.
African Reinsurance, Nigéria’ turnover for 2021 in local currency 0.845, in USD 0.845 and 2020 in local currency 0.805, in USD 0.805 and 020 – 2021 evolution 4.97 percent.
Continental Reinsurance, Nigéria’s turnover for 2021 in local currency 70.385, in USD 0.171 and 2020 in local currency 53.637, in USD 0.14 and 2020 – 2021 evolution 0.221percent.
WAICA Reinsurance, Sierra Leone’s turnover for 2021 in local currency 0.153 in USD 0.153 and 2020 in local currency 0.103, in USD 0.103 and 2020 – 2021 evolution 0.485 percent.
The ranking was carried by evolution in USD, earned premium, net premium and sourced by Company report, Atlas Magazine and A.M. Best
The Deputy Managing Director of Africa Re, Mr. Ken Aghoghovbia, made this known at 26th AIO African Reinsurance Forum in Lomé, Togo.
The Deputy Managing Director of Africa Re, Mr. Ken Aghoghovbia at the 26th AIO African Reinsurance Forum in Lomé, Togo, outlining the journey and outlook for the reinsurance sector, he said the challenging environment remained mixed, due to a high level of uncertainty.
Aghoghovbia, in a Keynote address theme, “Sustainable Growth: The Role of African Reinsurers in Economic Growth & Development”, stated that the drop in capital with the natural catastrophes and COVID-19 losses, has, however, created favourable reinsurance pricing in the global market.
However, the extent to which inflation is factored into the reinsurance pricing would determine their sustainability over the coming renewal cycles, he said.
He noted that with most reinsurers struggling to earn their cost of capital, the financial rating and outlook of market players would be ever more important in the next renewal cycles.
Also, the Group Managing Director of WAICA Re Mr. Abiola Ekundayo, had said WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc has grown its gross premium from S35,000 in 2011 to S103 million in 2020.
Ekundayo maintained that the performance made WAICA Re one of the fastest-growing reinsurance companies in African.
He said: “Today, it has grown into a group. We have continued to expand throughout Africa and beyond, with four regional offices located in Nigeria, Ghana, Tunisia, and Ivory Coast.
“Also, we have four subsidiaries: WAICA Re (UK) Limited, WAICA Re Zimbabwe (Private) Ltd, WAICA Re Capital Limited (Ghana) and WAICA Re (Kenya) Limited.”
Assessing reinsurance business on the African continent, he said: “Reinsurance in Africa is on a steady growth path despite the turbulence created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The top 10 reinsurance players still control a significant share of the market.
There have been improvements in local content; however, significant large risk exposures in engineering, oil and gas are still ferried to non-domestic reinsurers.”
He said there had been a continued shift in building capacity as major players have conferences, academies, training and competitions were tailored to skill enhancement.
“Reinsurance companies should focus more on emerging risks such as: political risks, terrorism, cyber security, artificial intelligence, among others.
On it’s part, Continental Re has six offices in Anglophone West Africa, Eastern, Southern, CIMA, and Northern regions grew gross premium income by 12 per cent overall despite significant competitor activity. Lagos accounted for 42 per cent of our volumes, while collectively, Nairobi, Gaborone, Douala, Abidjan and Tunis now account for 58 per cent of our total gross premium income ratio (2019: 46 per cent; 54 per cent).
The company said the expansion was a deliberate strategy for greater diversification of our portfolio across Africa
