Photo Credit: www.insidebiz.co.sz
By Phesheya Mkhonta
A new player in the insurance industry, Eswatini Re Limited, has been officially launched in the country. Ezulwini Re Limited is the second reinsurance company in Eswatini, in a market worth almost 400 million in reinsurance premiums.
Eswatini Re Limited is a 100% Swazi owned company, wholly owned by Eswatini Royal Insurance Corporation (ESRIC). The company was formally established in 2018, however, it only officially opened its doors for business in January 2022. The new firm seeks to broaden the local reinsurance capacity by offering additional capacity to the Eswatini reinsurance market.
The Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg was the guest of honour at the launch held at the Hilton Garden Inn which was also attended by insurance and financial industry players, as well as various other captains of industry.
Making his remarks, Eswatini Re Limited General Manager, Qiniso Dlamini noted that the company was born out of the vision of its parent company, Eswatini Royal Insurance Corporation after seeing the needs and demands of the industry for reinsurance coverage.
According to Dlamini ‘’historically, local insurers have sourced reinsurance support from outside our borders. It was only in 2015 that the industry welcomed the first local reinsurance company. However, given the size and diversity of insurable risks in our country, it is improbable that anyone insurer nor reinsurer could have sufficient capacity to cover the risks. Even if that was the case it brings about other challenges such as accumulation of risks to a single service provider.’’
The GM added that according to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) 2020 Annual Report, the Eswatini market generated E385 million in reinsurance premiums. However, only 9% of this amount, (E35million) was placed locally, demonstrating the need for additional capacity for local reinsurance.
The Minister lauded the company for their foresight to help spread risk in the insurance industry and further deepen Eswatini’s capacity to reinsure locally.
The Minister further added “By sharing some of the risk with reinsurers, primary insurers don’t just offer cover against key risks but prices are also kept at affordable levels. Such a state of affairs no doubt results in a win-win situation for Eswatini. It is for this reason that Government has been proactive in putting up legislative framework that will make it possible for all insurance industry stakeholders to operate on a level playing field, making it possible to reap maximum benefits’’
Eswatini Re Limited will write both life and non-life reinsurance business. The company’s key value propositions are providing additional underwriting capacity, facilitating timely payment of valid claims, offering reinsurance portfolio diversity and providing technical support.
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