The MENA zone remains attractive to investors

The "Middle East and North Africa insurance ratings: benchmarking" report published by the American rating agency AM Best confirms the sustained growth of the MENA markets.

Despite a difficult socio-economic and political context, the region remains attractive to investors. Neither the market volatility nor the introduction of new taxes such as VAT nor the pressure of regulatory reforms will discourage the major companies from settling there. The MENA zone has promising resources that will result in an important growth of premiums.

The AM Best study highlights that the majority of insurers are endowed with a solid capital and perform well. In this area, large companies are looking for regional diversity, just as they do in Asia and Africa.

Nevertheless, the market is facing some challenges. It is increasingly dominated by overcapitalized international groups, which weaken local insurance companies with low capital. In the absence of sufficient resources, the latter are increasingly struggling to manage their portfolios.

Read also | The MENA Zone will continue to attract reinsurers in 2019