Insurance
From The Report: Egypt 2013
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The Egyptian insurance industry is characterised by considerable competition on price, low market penetration and the continued dominance of the state-backed Misr Insurance. Total insurance premiums, including inward reinsurance and direct written premiums, rose to $1.57bn in 2011/12, an 8.7% increase over the previous year. Total investment by insurance firms amounted to $5.5bn in 2011/12, up 9.4% year-on-year, and income from investments rose to $477m. There are 30 companies active in the market. Of these, 18 are property and casualty firms, while 10 are life and personal insurance groups, with the remaining two an export credit guarantee company and a cooperative insurance society. With insurance uptake low even by North African regional standards, there is ample room for growth.

This chapter contains an interview with Ashraf Kadry El Sharkawy, Former Chairman, Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA).

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Branching out: New products have the potential to inject more competition and increase penetration
OBG
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While the summer of 2013 saw further instability in the broader political arena, Egypt's insurers have largely avoided the worst excesses of the fallout of the past two years. The Egyptian insurance industry is characterised by considerable competition on price, low market penetration and the continued dominance of the state-backed Misr Insurance. The country’s 2011 revolution was followed by deterioration in the security environment, leading to an increase in claims paid in some segments,…

Interview

OBG talks to Ashraf Kadry El Sharkawy, Former Chairman, Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA)
OBG
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Interview:Ashraf Kadry El Sharkawy What are the main points of the regulatory strategy for the insurance sector? ASHRAF KADRY EL SHARKAWY: Our main priority is to safeguard insurance policyholders across the country. However, at the same time, we want to reduce the amount of complaints that we receive from the delay of payments, and to work with companies to limit the number of cases where this happens. The growing number of high-risk claims leads to an increased amount of time it takes to…

Analysis

New offerings: Islamic insurance can attract more international players to enter the Egyptian market
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The uptake of takaful (Islamic insurance) is based around the concept of risk-sharing and has been growing at an exponential rate since the first provider of the product opened shop in Egypt in 2003. Plans to develop product-specific regulations as well as for the creation of other Islamic investment vehicles are likely to further boost segment growth, though opinions within the segment as to the utility of the takaful concept and its long-term prospects vary. ISLAMIC MODEL: Takaful is based…