Slow ascent of the insurance market in Africa

The African Insurance is struggling to take off as reported in the first barometer of African insurance established at the 43rd General Assembly of the AIO, which was held from 8 to 11 May 2016.

According to this study,the sector has experienced, in recent years, significant improvements with the introduction of a more stringent regulatory framework, the development of bancassurance and distribution of supply via mobile platforms.

Although the soil is favorable to the development of insurance with mainland economic boom through investments in basic infrastructure, improvement of GDP and expansion of the middle class, the insurance penetration rate stands solely at 2.8%, a value well below the global average of 6.3%.

The barometer established by the AIO has also highlighted disparities between geographic areas on the continent. Currently, South Africa concentrates 71% of underwritings on the continent with total premiums of 49 billion USD in 2014.

It is followed by five other markets: Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Algeria.
By themselves, these six countries account for 90% of the African market overall premiums.