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Mar 2024

Algeria: Treatment of local private insurers a challenge for life sector

Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jul 2018

The development of life and health insurance faces several challenges, including neglect of privately held local insurers, according to Mr Mohamed Hakim Soufi, CEO of privately owned life insurer Macir Vie.
 
He said, “Currently, public banks work with public insurance companies, and foreign private banks work with foreign insurers. This means that Algerian private insurers are not tied enough to banks to penetrate all layers of society. This is a real problem because private insurance companies have a place in this country and their marketing efforts need to be strengthened.”
 
Currently, life and health insurance companies in Algeria offer only three families of products – group insurance, travel insurance and life insurance, according to a report by Cap Algeria.
 
Currently investment-type or savings products cannot be marketed by insurers “for the simple reason that we have an embryonic financial market”, Mr Soufi said, adding that the stock market needs to have a lot more value and be much more dynamic. He said that he is hopeful that insurers would in future be able to market products like education endowment or retirement plans.
 
He said, “It is also necessary to market products that see high demand in the market from Algerian customers. An example is that of international health insurance. It is a product that customers need and are demanding.
 
“Presently, this product is suspended until further notice. We are having a lot of discussions with the Insurance Branch at the Department of Finance to reactivate this product because we believe in its potential and we are hopeful that this will happen.” M 
 
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