Sources of capital on the continent

Insurance assets under management in Africa

The insurance industry is an important source of capital for investment on the continent. Insurance companies receive premiums from policyholders and invest in capital markets to have sufficient capital to pay back claims as they arise. This makes insurance firms key institutional investors. Insurance firms are heavily regulated, in terms of the assets that they can invest in; and this impacts the extent to which capital can be allocated.

Growth in Insurance industry – Frontier Markets

Frontier markets premium growth vs 2018 GDP growth Download the graph PDF (26KB)

In Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe have experienced a positive total premium growth in 2018. For Morocco and Nigeria, this is mostly driven by the increase in life premiums. The increase in savings and protection-related financial products has boosted the demand for life insurance in Nigeria. Vietnam is the clear leader in the Frontier Markets, with total premiums growth of 36.5%, which has mostly been driven by growth in life premiums which surged due to strong promotion through agency and bancassurance channels. The low growth levels in Kenya are mostly due to the country’s low insurance penetration levels; which also stems from the country’s low levels of urbanisation.