The Pulse reports

Africa´s agricultural insurance, which could play a crucial role in protecting farmers against disasters and other risks, remains underdeveloped, despite the significant economic importance of the agricultural sector for many of the continent´s economies. It suffers from low penetration and offers only a limited range of products to farmers. According to this year´s Africa Insurance Pulse, prepared by Faber Consulting on behalf of the African Insurance Organisation, in recent years the market demonstrated promising signs of growth due to increasing demand from farmers seeking effective risk management solutions against extreme weather, the emergence of new technologies and improved risk models. The report, which was launched at the 49th Conference and General Assembly of the African Insurance Organisation in Algiers, finds that in 2020, Africa´s agricultural insurance premiums were estimated at USD 322 million, representing 1.6% of total African non-life insurance premiums of USD 19,730 million. Although this percentage is slightly higher than its global average of 1.3% compared to total non-life premiums, there is significant untapped potential in the African agricultural insurance market.

The ASEAN Insurance Pulse, published on 8 December 2022 by Malaysian Re, highlights the contribution of the insurance industry to climate adaptation and resilience building. ASEAN countries have pledged to implement the UN’s Paris accord of 2015, reducing their carbon emission to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Overall, until 2050 more than USD 800 billions of investments in energy supply are needed to meet the region’s expanding demand for power and fulfill its commitments to the Paris accord. The region will have to transform its economy and install a business model less reliant on carbon emissions. As risk managers, risk takers and investors, the insurance industry will play a key role in facilitating and financing the region’s transition towards a low carbon economy.

Africa will be disproportionately affected by climate change, according to the latest edition of the Africa Insurance Pulse. The research report, launched on 29 June 2022 at the 48th Conference and General Assembly of the African Insurance Organisation in Nairobi, Kenya, concludes that developing countries in Africa are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their high exposure to extreme weather conditions, low adaptive capacity and widespread poverty. African insurers, reinsurers and brokers will play an important role in assessing, managing and proposing solutions to protect against the effects of global warming on the continent. This year's edition of the African Insurance Pulse, conducted by Faber Consulting on behalf of the African Insurance Organisation, is based on market research and in-depth interviews with insurers, reinsurers and brokers operating in Africa.

The Africa Insurance Organisation (AIO) published its first annual report on 1 December 2021. This report, prepared by Faber Consulting, outlines the performance of African insurance markets in 2020, including an outlook for 2021. Due to the slow pace of COVID-19 immunisation on the continent and the limited fiscal support African governments can provide to support their economies, the recovery of African insurance markets is expected to be delayed until after 2022 and be slower than in other emerging markets. The report further presents the AIO's strategy and key activities over the past 12 months, as well as key trends in African insurance regulation.

The "African Continental Free Trade Area" (AfCFTA) will create a single market covering more than 1.2 billion people, with a current gross domestic product of more than USD 2.5 trillion. The free flow of goods, services, people and capital under the AfCFTA is expected to boost the intra-African trade and strengthen the competitiveness of African companies. According to the publication 2021 Africa Insurance Pulse launched on 7 September 2021 at the 47th AIO Conference and General Assembly, the African insurance market participants are optimistic about the AfCFTA but hope for better regulatory cooperation. This edition of the African Insurance Pulse, conducted by Faber Consulting on behalf of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO), is based on market research and in-depth interviews with nearly 30 insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, regulators and policymakers operating in Africa.

The fourth edition of the ASEAN Insurance Pulse, launched on 15 December 2020 in a webinar by Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re) and Faber Consulting, focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region’s economies and its insurance markets. Once again, our research takes the pulse of the insurance executives operating in the region and analyses how the pandemic shapes their markets, which actions regulators took to avert the impact of the crisis and how the virus will change the regions’ insurance industry.

Digitization will transform Africa's insurance industry. Digital technology is expected to affect all functions of insurance, enhancing the appeal and affordability of products and ultimately increasing insurance penetration. There are, however, pronounced differences in the degree of digitization across Africa's insurance markets and players. The Africa Insurance Pulse "The digitization of Africa's insurance markets", launched on 1 October 2020, investigates the main trends and developments at play in advancing Africa's insurance industry. Produced by Faber Consulting on behalf of the Africa Insurance Organisation (AIO) and sponsored by Africa Re, the study is based on in-depth market research and interviews with senior insurance executives operating in Africa.

The third edition of the ASEAN Insurance Pulse was launched on 1 October 2019 at the occasion of the 12th ASEAN Insurance Congress in Bali, Indonesia. The survey is based on structured interviews with executives representing 43 regional and international (re)insurance companies, intermediaries, policy makers and trade associations and analyses the impact of digitization on the region’s US$ 31 billion non-life insurance markets and their growth and profitability prospects. The study was published by Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company and Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re) in an exclusive partnership.

The 4th edition of the Africa Insurance Barometer was launched in Johannesburg on June 10, 2019. This annual survey, based on in-depth interviews with senior executives representing regional and international (re)insurance companies and intermediaries, provides an overview of the current state and future prospects of the African insurance market and paints a comprehensive and quantitative picture of the current market sentiment. In addition, the report features a summary and analysis of key data on Africa’s insurance markets.

The 2nd edition of the ASEAN Insurance Pulse was launched at the 3rd ASEAN Insurance Summit in Kuala Lumpur on 28 November 2018. Non-life protection gaps, defined as uninsured losses as a share of total economic losses caused by natural disasters and cyber incidents, for example, may seriously hamper a country’s economic growth and societal progress as large uninsured losses adversely affect its fiscal position and ability to recover swiftly. This is one of the key findings from this year's ASEAN Insurance Pulse, published by Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company and Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re) in an exclusive partnership.

The 6th edition of MENA Insurance Pulse was launched at the 32nd General Conference of the General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) in Hammamet, Tunisia, on June 2018. This annual research initiative is aimed at offering an authoritative overview of the current state and future prospects of the region’s US$ 58 billion primary insurance markets. It paints a comprehensive and quantitative picture of the current market sentiment, tracked over time. According to the MENA Insurance Pulse, published by Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company, the insurance markets of the Middle East and Northern Africa are expected to continue outgrowing the region’s GDP over the next 12 months. 

The ASEAN Insurance Pulse 2017 was launched at the Malaysian Insurance Summit 2017 in Kuala Lumpur on 30 October 2017. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) initiative is expected to benefit ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) insurance markets and the insurance companies operating in the region. This is the main finding from the ASEAN Insurance Pulse, published by Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company and Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re) in an exclusive partnership. Based on in-depth interviews with 35 senior executives from regional and international insurance companies, intermediaries and trade organisations operating in the region, the survey provides an authoritative overview of the current state and future prospects of the ASEAN region’s US$ 23 billion non-life insurance markets.

The second edition of the Africa Insurance Barometer provides an overview of the current state and future prospects of the US$ 64 billion African insurance market and paints a comprehensive and quantitative picture of the current market sentiment. In addition, the report features a summary and analysis of key data on Africa’s insurance markets.