Zep-Re taps insurance skills market with new academy
What you need to know:
“Insurance penetration in Comesa and indeed the rest of Africa is far less than satisfactory with the exception of a few countries. We need to change this if the industry is to find traction,” Mr Makove said.
Kenya Re, the oldest reinsurer in Eastern and Central Africa gets 20 per cent of all Kenyan insurance business.
Regional reinsurance company ZEP–RE is targeting insurance executives seeking to tap into reinsurance business with a training academy to enhance their technical skills.
The ZEP-RE Academy, established in collaboration with the College of Insurance to train insurance executives on the technical aspects of reinsurance management to address an existing skills gap for reinsurance practitioners.
The academy will operate from ZEP RE offices in Upper Hill, at the College of Insurance and in the regional markets that the reinsurance company operates in.
“Though the fundamentals of the insurance and reinsurance industry remain the same, the landscape is ever changing, with new risks that hitherto were not prevalent. Terrorism risk for instance has become an ever-present risk and therefore, we as an industry have to find ways of mitigating this risk for our clients,” ZEP-RE CEO Rajni Varia said.
Mr Varia said that based on the regional firm’s experience they want to keep pursuing the growth and expansion of the insurance industry.
The Nairobi based firm underwrites life and non-life reinsurance risks primarily in Kenya.
The company also provides property, casualty, motor, marine, aviation, life, and medical insurance products. It also operates in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Sudan.
Oldest reinsurer
Kenya has only three reinsurance companies under the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) including Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re), East Africa Reinsurance Company Limited and Continental Reinsurance Company Limited.
Kenya Re, the oldest reinsurer in Eastern and Central Africa gets 20 per cent of all Kenyan insurance business.
Foreign reinsurance companies and reinsurance brokers operating liaison offices in Kenya include Ghana Reinsurance Company; Munich Reinsurance Company; J.B Boda Reinsurance Broker and Afro Asia Reinsurance Broker.
Zep Re which also operates as PTA Reinsurance Company is one of the two regional reinsurance organizations that operate under various regional charters.
Commissioner of Insurance Sammy Makove said there is a need to enhance insurance training as part of the insurance penetration enhancing roadmap.
“Insurance penetration in Comesa and indeed the rest of Africa is far less than satisfactory with the exception of a few countries. We need to change this if the industry is to find traction,” Mr Makove said.
Kenya’s insurance penetration stands at 2.8 percent while Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania stands 1.6 percent, 1 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.
IRA recently introduce new minimum capital requirements on Reinsurance Company (general business) to the higher of one billion; or risk based capital as determined by the Authority from time to time; or 20 per cent of the net earned premium of the preceding financial year.
