Egypt: Premiums to grow by 20% to $1.2 bln in current fiscal year
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jan 2018
Premiums in Egypt’s insurance market are expected to reach EGP22 billion (US$1.2 billion) in the current financial year ending 30 June 2018, representing an increase of 20% over the previous fiscal year, forecasts Mr Alaa El-Zoheiry, Chairman of the Insurance Federation of Egypt (IFE).
He said that a large part of premium increases is related to the liberalisation of the local exchange rate since November 2016 and the re-evaluation of assets, which has led to increases in premiums. Insurers have also been affected by price increases of spare parts as well as of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, reported Masrawi.
He also pointed out that insurance premiums in Egypt are linked to global prices, which rose last year because of the insured losses of around $80 billion paid by the insurance sector for the hurricanes in the US.
The IFE plans to increase the range of insurance products in the market by introducing professional liability insurance for doctors, engineers and even corporate executives, increasing the types of compulsory insurance and improving the legislative environment for insurance.
Mr El-Zoheiry said that this year the IFE will also work to raise insurance awareness of students in schools and universities. The insurance sector is targeting to increase its contribution to GDP from 1.1% currently to 3% in four years, he said.
He attributed the insufficient insurance awareness to the fact that for 75 years, the insurance sector had only three companies which did not seek to raise insurance awareness. The situation is changed now with the presence of a large number of private insurers, mostly foreign and Arab companies. M
EGP1 = US$0.06