... E6.6 billion in assets

MBABANE - Central %ank of Eswatini Gov ernor 'r Phil 0nisi in the financial stability report is sue si[ said

³$ssets of the insurance in dustry amounted to E6.6 billion at the end of -une 2022 from E6.3 billion in -une 2021. 7his increase in total industry assets was driven by growth in assets for the short term sector of 15.6 per cent and growth of 6.3 per cent for the long term insurance sector.”

7he governor mentioned that the value of insurers¶ assets had been on an upward trend since the first quarter of 2021, even attaining levels above those re corded prior to the CO9I' 1 pandemic.

0nisi added that investment income contracted over the year ended -une 2022.

He said the sector¶s invest ment income recorded a loss of E7 .1 million from a surplus of E318.8 million recorded in -une 2021. ³7his decline in invest ment income was observed for both sectors but was more pro nounced in the long term insur ance sector 130.8 per cent ,” he said. 7he above mentioned further prompted government and private sector to create and promote locally owned insur ance companies.

7he Eswatini Royal Insur ance Corporation ESRIC in troduced Eswatini Re /imited, a reinsurance company that is 100 per cent Eswatini owned.

Eswatini Re /imited launched their reinsurance services in 'e cember 2022, with the aim to broaden the local reinsurance capacity by offering additional capacity to the local market.

Eswatini Re /imited was established in October 2018 however they opened doors for operations in -anuary 2022.

7hey are now a new player in the reinsurance space looking to provide additional capacity within the local reinsurance space. 7hey have also acquired a licence to provide both long term and short term reinsurance services.

Speaking during the official launch of the company reinsur ance services last year, Eswatini Re /imited General 0anager G0 4iniso 'lamini said they were born out of the vision of their parent company ESRIC.

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market was competitive, overall pressure on pricing continued across most classes of business and they were compelled to respond by fur ther adMusting overall prices, forgoing growth in order to retain market share.

³1otwithstanding these develop ments, the corporation delivered pleasing overall performance con sistent with prior years. 7he Corpo ration has maintained its reputation as a reliable insurer and continues to be the maMor player in the industry in the country.

³In spite of the challenging environ ment in the year, the corporation is still poised to deliver value and grow product and distribution capabilities while maintaining pricing discipline, superior underwriting and stellar cus tomer service as our core focus to grow the business and achieve sus tainable profitability,” he said.

0eanwhile, 1 per cent local rein surance profits are foreign owned. 7he reinsurance industry in Eswatini is dominated by foreign companies, mostly from South $frica.

$ccording to the )inancial Services Regulatory $uthority¶s )SR$ an nual report, the local market generated E385 million in reinsurance premium. Of this, only nine per cent a figure of E35 million was placed locally.

)SR$ said there was a notable year on year increase in GWP of five per cent from E506 million to E530 million. 4uarter on quarter GWP increased by 50 per cent from E267 million. 7he top four classes of in surance business collectively con tributed to 66 per cent of the GWP amounting to E350 million. rangements shall be both pro portional and non proportional, again depending on the risk, our appetite and capacity,” he added.

0inister of )inance 1eal Ri Mkenberg during the launch said Eswatini Re /imited was in line with the policies of His 0aMes ty¶s government, which were focused on the establishment of new companies, leading to the creation of employment oppor tunities and economic growth. He said this level playing field would be made possible with the passing of the Reinsurance %ill of 2020, currently at con sultation stage in Senate.

RiMkenberg added that among its obMectives, the %ill was aimed at the establishment, recognition and promotion of reinsurance business in the insurance industry.

³With these developments in the industry, government e[pects that the reinsurance companies would allow in volved parties to reduce their e[posure to risk and their cap ital requirements.

³0ost importantly, govern ment is of the view that free ing up capital would allow insurers to underwrite more business, thus enabling eco nomic growth and helping to create stability,” he added.

7he minister also mentioned that although reinsurance in the country was a relatively new field, they were highly impressed that with Eswatini Re /imited, Eswatini now had a second registered reinsurer.

³With the establishment of Eswatini Re /imited as the second resident reinsurance company in our kingdom, we hope the local insurance mar ket will continue to grow,” he said.

He said this was after seeing the needs and demands of the industry for reinsurance cover age. He said reinsurance was an integral part of insurance arrangements and insurers had varying needs and requirements for reinsurance services, de pending on the types and nature of insurance products they sell.

³Historically local insurers have sourced insurance sup port from outside our borders in 2015 the industry welcomed the first local reinsurance com pany. Who have over the years enMoyed support from the local market. We shall be aware that insurance and by e[tension reinsurance is about capacity, financial capacity, meaning having a strong balance sheet to meet one¶s liabilities,” he said.

He said their treaty programs would be structured both pro portionally quota share and surplus and non proportional ;O/ depending on the nature of the risk and appetite for it.

³Similarly, our facultative ar