The African insurance market beyond 64 billion USD

The outlooks are particularly encouraging with numerous positive factors. The direct insurance market, estimated at approximately 64 billion USD, is taking advantage of an economy whose growth rate is estimated at 4% per year between 2016 and 2020, compared to a global mean value of 3.6% over the entire period.

Africa which is so rich in natural resources is in need of investments in the area of infrastructure, with a young population and a fast-growing middle class.

Insurance penetration rate was of 2.9% in 2015, whereas the global mean value is set around 6.23%. Several shortcomings should nonetheless be pointed out: statistical information and local expertise are so poor, exchange restrictions hindering investments while markets are oftentimes small-sized.

Price volatility of raw materials, and most importantly, political instability constitutes sizable issues. The African reinsurance market is estimated today at 8.36 billion USD.