African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) has reported strong financial results for the first half of 2025, underpinned by continued growth in premium income, resilient underwriting performance, and a solid investment return-despite ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds.
The corporation posted an overall net income of $102.81m (1H2024: $85.09m), translating to a growth of 19.97%, under IFRS 4. This was driven by strong revenue growth, technical performance and investment performance, as well as the subdued negative impact of finance costs.
Other 1H2025 financial highlights include:
This robust performance was largely driven by a substantial rise in proportional treaty premiums within key production centres. Additionally, organic growth was spurred by premium increases following significant market corrections after major catastrophe events, further accelerating momentum in core markets. Africa Re said that these factors collectively underscore the company’s operational strength and its proactive engagement with brokers and market players across its core territories.
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Net incurred claims increased by 20.71%, impacted by unfavourable claims experience and ongoing macroeconomic pressures.
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The net underwriting result reached $54.35m, with the net underwriting margin closing at 10.82% (1H2024: 12.46%) and a corresponding net combined ratio of 89.18% (1H2024: 87.54%). This solid performance underscores the corporation’s operational resilience and disciplined risk selection and remains well within expectations.
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Africa Re’s investment portfolio delivered a stronger result of $51.15m in 1H2025 compared to $42.02m recorded in 1H2024. This performance is attributable to an active management of various assets, especially the fixed income portfolio, in an environment of high volatility.
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As of 30 June 2025, Africa Re’s total assets stood at $2.60bn, up by 10.25% from 31 December 2024. Shareholders’ equity increased by 8.80% to $1.25bn, supported by higher retained earnings.
The Group MD/CEO of Africa Re, Dr Corneille Karekezi, commented on the company’s interim financial performance, saying, “Our expanding business portfolio, disciplined underwriting, and prudent investment strategies have enabled us to achieve significant premium growth while navigating an increasingly complex business environment. The improvement in our financial position, with rising assets and shareholders’ equity, further underscores the effectiveness of our strategy and risk management approach.”
He added, “As we look ahead, we are confident in Africa Re’s ability to seize opportunities in our core markets, maintaining the momentum that has defined our results for this half year. We remain optimistic that we will achieve the set targets for the 2025 financial year under the current market conditions.”
Summary of Africa Re’s 1H2025 financial performance
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IFRS 4 (US$’000)
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IFRS 17 (US$’000)
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Metric
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1H2025
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1H2024
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Change
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Metric
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1H2025
|
1H2024
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Change
|
|
Gross written premium
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644,297
|
558,742
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15.3%
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Gross reinsurance Revenue
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612,845
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528,901
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15.9%
|
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Gross earned premium
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612,845
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528,901
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15.9%
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Net reinsurance revenue
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522,709
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454,139
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15.1%
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Net earned premium
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502,459
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433,656
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15.9%
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Net reinsurance service expenses
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(425,533)
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(336,413)
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26.5%
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Net technical expenses
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(416,654)
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(353,531)
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17.9%
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Net reinsurance service result
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97,176
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117,726
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-17.5%
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|
|
|
|
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Net reinsurance finance result
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(28,427)
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(44,544)
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-36.2%
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Management expenses
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(31,459)
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(26,083)
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20.6%
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Non-attributable expenses
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(12,751)
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(10,453)
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22.0%
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|
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|
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Net reinsurance result
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55,998
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62,719
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-10.7%
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Investment & other income
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51,153
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42,022
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21.7%
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Net investment income
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50,355
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42,022
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19.8%
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Finance cost & exchange losses/gains
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(838)
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(10,955)
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-92.4%
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Finance cost & exchange losses/gains
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(838)
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(10,955)
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-92.4%
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Income tax
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(2,580)
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(17)
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150x
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Income tax
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(2,580)
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(17)
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150x
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Net profit after tax
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102,081
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85,092
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20.0%
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Net profit after tax
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102,937
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93,770
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9.8%
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Source: Africa Re
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Africa Re continues to publish its accounts under the new industry accounting and reporting standards of IFRS 17 (Insurance Contracts) and IFRS 9 (Financial Instruments). For information and comparison, the Corporation will also continue to include annual accounts under the old industry accounting and reporting standard IFRS 4 (Insurance Contracts) and IAS 39 (Financial Instruments).