Insurers battling for a local marine insurance

The Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) pressured the authorities to require importers and exporters to locally purchase their insurance policies, a measure designed to support the activity of marine class of business.

In 2014, nearly 1.6 billion KES (18 billion USD) worth of goods were imported into Kenya. This amount generated 21 billion KES (236 million USD) of annual premiums paid to foreign insurers. For the 2008 to 2012 period and for all the countries of East Africa, almost 400 billion KES (4.6 billion USD) in marine premiums were paid to foreign insurers.

The authorities stated that importers and exporters do not at all affect the insurance business or the supply chain. This task is left to specialized companies.