Capital base of insurance firms grows 33% to ¢3.8bn in 2021

Provisional results by the National Insurance Commission indicates that the total capital base for the insurance industry grew by 33.0 per cent to ¢3.88 billion in 2021, from ¢2.91 billion in 2020.

This improved the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) in both the Non-Life and Life sectors of the insurance industry. In 2021, the industry average CAR improved to 456.0 per cent and 524.0 per cent in the Non-Life and Life sectors, respectively.

According to myjoyonline.com the maintenance of CAR above the required 150.0 per cent, the NIC said, will partly depend on the willingness of the insurance industry to stick to and continuously improve on good corporate governance practices.

Provisional results by the National Insurance Commission indicate that solvency risk continues to be fairly contained, with a positive and stable outlook into the near future.

Gross premiums stood at ¢54.70 billion in the review year, compared to ¢3.95 billion in 2020. Premiums grew on the back of the digitisation drive by NIC.

With respect to the Life sector, the increase was propelled by investment income which compensated for the poor underwriting results in the sector.

In the non-Life sector, the slump was partly due to the implementation of the new Minimum Capital Requirements, which pumped up the equity base of most Non-Life insurers, as underwriting and investment returns improved over the period. Broadly, profitability risk was contained in 2021.