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Africa, which accounts for just 1.5% of global premium, has the highest number of reinsurers per continent, with 51 entities by the end of 2023. By comparison, the American and European continents, with 39 and 26 reinsurers respectively, underwrite 40.2% and 43.4% of global reinsurance premiums.
African reinsurers are operating in a harsh socio-economic environment marked by inflation, political instability, increased competition and the depreciation of local currencies against the dollar. Hence and in one year, the South African Rand, the Nigerian Naira and the Kenyan Shilling have lost respectively 7.21%, 50.22% and 21.37% of their value against the US dollar.
To discover | Atlas Reinsurance Reports - Africa 2025
Main indicators of the African reinsurance market
Figures in millions USD
| 2014 | 2018 | 2022 | 2023 | 2014-2023 evolution (1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross premiums | 3 690 | 4 471 | 5 815 | 5 712 | 5% |
| Africa's share of global reinsurance business | 1.78% | 1.67% | 1.60% | 1.51% | -1.80% |
| Share capital | 1 079 | 1 262 | 1 613 | 1 579 | 4.30% |
| Shareholder’s equity | 2 696 | 3 351 | 3 611 | 3 983 | 4.40% |
| Net result | 347 | 244 | 303 | 496 | 4% |
| ROE | 12.90% | 7.30% | 8.40% | 12.50% | -0.40% |
(1) Average annual growth rate
African reinsurance market: gross premiums
In 2023, all operators have generated 5 712 million USD in gross premiums, down 1.77% on 2022, a decline mainly attributable to the non-life segment, down 4.29%.
In contrast, life business had developed well over the same period, with a 19.64% increase in sales.
It is worth noting that life insurance is essentially underwritten by three reinsurers: Munich Reinsurance of Africa with 258 million USD, General Reinsurance Africa with 203 million USD and Africa Re with 100 million USD. These three players, two South African and one Nigerian, account for 76.74% of the continent's life underwriting.
Over the period 2014-2023, African reinsurers achieved average growth in gross written premiums of 5% a year. This growth is on a par with that reported by European reinsurers (+5.2%), but better than that of Asian players (+3.49%).
For the record, the average annual growth rate of the global reinsurance market over the last ten years is set at 6.92%.
Main African reinsurance markets
South Africa remains the continent's largest reinsurance market, with 2.055 billion USD in written premiums in 2023, accounting for a market share of 36%. This position is being increasingly challenged by other regional players.
Nigeria, with 1.309 billion USD in premiums in second place, followed by North Africa (789 million USD) and Kenya (482 million USD), trailing third and fourth respectively.
| Ranking | Country | Number of companies studied | Turnover | Market share 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | ||||
| 1 | South Africa | 7 | 2 054 784 | 2 393 875 | 36.0% |
| 2 | Nigeria | 3 | 1 309 426 | 1 191 743 | 23% |
| 3 | Kenya | 6 | 492 292 | 574 341 | 9% |
| 4 | Morocco | 1 | 369 266 | 329 393 | 6.5% |
| 5 | Algeria | 1 | 347 359 | 303 127 | 6.1% |
| 6 | Sierra Leone | 1 | 255 700 | 203 535 | 4.5% |
| 7 | Togo | 1 | 197 867 | 178 313 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Zimbabwe | 13 | 87 335 | 92 769 | 1.5% |
| 9 | Tanzania | 1 | 85 651 | 76 519 | 1.5% |
| 10 | Côte d'Ivoire | 2 | 71 311 | 69 243 | 1.2% |
| Total | 36 | 5 270 991 | 5 412 858 | 92.80% | |
| Rest of the market | 12 | 441 014 | 402 229 | 7.20% | |
| Grand total (1) | 48 | 5 712 005 | 5 815 087 | 100% | |
(1) There are 51 reinsurers in Africa. The ranking only concerns 48 players, as data for three entities — Nigeria Re (Nigeria), Mainstream Reinsurance Company (Ghana) and National Re (Sudan) — is not available.
Source : Atlas Reinsurance Reports-Afrique 2025
African reinsurance market: shareholders' equity and net result
Despite a worsening economic environment and high earnings volatility, African operators have reported a 10.3% annual increase in shareholders' equity by the end of 2023.
Africa Re is the reinsurer with the highest share capital and shareholders' equity, holding 27% of the continent's equity. Zep Re with 336 million USD and Compagnie Centrale de Réassurance with 334 million USD are the other two reinsurers with the highest shareholders' equity.
In terms of net result, the African market as a whole grew by 63.7% in 2023. In the same year, ROE jumped by 48.4% to 12.5%, compared with 8.4% in 2022 and -0.3% in 2021.
The 2023 ROE of African reinsurers is higher than that achieved by American and Bermudan companies (4.6%) or Asian companies (10.2%). For the same period, the ROE rates achieved by European and Middle Eastern reinsurers are 15.39% and 15.9% respectively.
Despite the steady increase in African reinsurers' equity capital in recent years, the capacity available to local ceding companies remains low. Continental reinsurers are struggling to absorb specialty risks and the major risks generated by industrialization and infrastructure development.
This imbalance between supply and demand for capacity has been offset by the major international reinsurers, who provide expertise and capacity to cover complex risks.
Average combined ratio for Sub-Saharan reinsurers: 2014-2023
In 2023, Sub-Saharan reinsurers responded well to the rise in natural disaster claims, mainly in South Africa. Their portfolio diversification and proactive risk management enabled them to mitigate losses.
As with reinsurers on other continents, operators in Sub-Saharan Africa have imposed strict portfolio selection and introduced tougher pricing conditions than in the past. The combined ratio has therefore fallen to 91.8% in 2023, compared with 95.6% in 2022 and 99.6% in 2019.
Top 10 African reinsurers
With a continental market share of 19.37% of written premiums, Africa Re unseats Munich Reinsurance Africa (15.81%) from the top spot in the 2023 ranking of African reinsurers. These two reinsurers are followed by Société Centrale de Réassurance (SCR) and Compagnie Centrale de Réassurance (CCR) with shares of 6.46% and 6.08% respectively.
The African reinsurance market remains highly concentrated, with the top ten players accounting for 74.8% of the continent's premiums.
Waica Re achieved the highest growth rate among the top 10 African reinsurers in 2023 (+25.63%).
