Last week, Invest Africa hosted its annual flagship event, The Africa Debate, bringing together 1000+ thought leaders, industry experts and entrepreneurs to discuss how to best support Africa’s transformative recovery. Mikir Shah, CEO of Africa Specialty Risks joined the inaugural panel discussion featuring key financial African leaders on ways to develop local financial services and capital markets across Africa.
Moderator Yvonne Ike, Managing Director, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at Bank of America.
Speakers Mikir Shah, CEO, Africa Specialty Risks Banji Fehintola, Head of Treasury & Financial Institutions, Africa Finance Corporation Ibukun Adebayo, Director, Africa & South Asia Strategy, Capital Markets, London Stock Exchange Ayo Salami, CIO, Emerging Markets Investment Management
Key takeaways from panel discussion
FX Risks
Attracting foreign capital is imperative to power growth across the African continent.
Risk mitigating insurance products such as political risk insurance and trade credit can protect against political change or FX inconvertibility, providing the confidence required to increase investment inflows into the Continent which is currently insufficient.
Initiatives such as Offshore Local Currency Financing shift the FX risk from the issuer to the international investor who may have tools to mitigate FX risks, thus reducing a country’s dependence on foreign currency while simultaneously helping investors tap directly into the local market.
Attracting Capital
Governments need to implement a track record of delivery and execution – running unsustainable deficits bears a cost, such as currency weakening resulting from high inflation.
DFIs’ such as the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) work closely with governments through policy advisory to improve the operating environment, and with central banks by providing market liquidity in terms of swaps, local currency investments, etc. The AFC carries out a lot of work around product development and ensuring these are available to the market.
Governments needs to create local operating conditions to enable local businesses to flourish which will quickly attract international investors to participate in that success.
Democratising Investment Access
A natural pool of capital already exists that is comfortable with African risks, and that’s the diaspora remittances which equated to circa US$70 Bn dollars in 2020, albeit most of this money was for consumption versus investment. It is essential to create products to convert a proportion of this diaspora remittances into investments.
Fintech can provide Africans access to invest in foreign markets, and it can also support people outside Africa to invest into the Continent.
Perception vs Reality
African governments should implement an ongoing program of investor engagement to enable investors to be comfortable with the existing risks and current reality.
Information distribution needs to be centralised and scalable so that international investors also get access to data
Better risk understanding has a direct effect on the execution, cost, and ability to attract other international investors into a project.
Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) provides comprehensive risk transfer solutions through high quality underwriting to local and global customers across the African continent, giving them the confidence to grow their businesses sustainably. Our specialty lines include; Political Risk Insurance, Trade Credit, Construction, Energy, Liability, Property, Political Violence and Terrorism, and Parametric.
Mauritius, 17 August 2021 – Africa Specialty Risks (“ASR”), the pan-African focused reinsurance group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Krishna Bheenick as its Managing Director in Mauritius. The company is also launching a recruitment drive to attract qualified professionals to join the business.
Krishna Bheenick brings a wealth of experience in the Insurance and wider Financial Services sector in Mauritius and internationally, having held senior positions at SWAN General Limited, Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited, XL Catlin Insurance (UK), Munich Mauritius Reinsurance Company Limited and Munich Re of Africa Limited, among others.
Krishna will lead ASR’s operations in Mauritius, where the company is now seeking to recruit across all levels, specifically within the Underwriting, Compliance, Finance, and Business Administration departments.
Mikir Shah, CEO of ASR, commented: “We are delighted to be welcoming Krishna on board as our Managing Director in Mauritius. This marks a significant milestone for ASR as we seek to build our business locally in order to serve the growing needs of the African continent. With his vast expertise in the reinsurance market locally and internationally, and his deep understanding of African markets, Krishna will be a key member of our team as we continue to develop the business.”
“We know that Mauritius has a well-established pool of qualified professionals in the Reinsurance and broader Financial Services arena, and we are now looking forward to making further hires in the coming weeks to strengthen our team.”
Krishna Bheenick, Managing Director – Mauritius, said: “I am excited to be joining ASR in Mauritius and I look forward to working with colleagues to establish the operations here. Mauritius is a key financial hub for the Continent and offers significant opportunities to grow the business. ASR will provide additional African-domiciled capacity in the market, especially in the light of the pandemic which has led a number of global reinsurers to focus more on their home markets.”
ASR announced the launch of a fully capitalised and licenced Reinsurer based in Mauritius on 20 May. ASR is backed by Helios Investment Partners, the largest Africa-focused private investment firm, through its latest private equity fund Helios Investors IV, L.P. whose investors include CDC Group (the UK’s development finance institution) and the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group).
In addition to the operations in Mauritius, ASR has announced plans to establish hubs in six other African countries, namely Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and Nigeria. ASR will be investing in local training of the market in specialty insurance lines, as well as recruitment and infrastructure surrounding the hubs.
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Media Enquiries
Mikir Shah, CEO
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About ASR
Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) provides comprehensive risk transfer solutions through high quality underwriting to local and global customers across the African continent, giving them the confidence to grow their businesses sustainably.
ASR works proactively with local regulators to develop skills and provide training to local underwriters. Environmental, social, and governance considerations are central to ASR’s values, particularly in relation to local capacity building.
ASR is backed by Helios Investment Partners’ Fund IV and benefits from their extensive reach across Africa, as well as their knowledge and experience in our key markets.
Africa Specialty Risks Ltd. is an Appointed Representative of Crispin Speers & Partners Ltd. We operate as a Managing General Agent sourcing world leading capacity for African insurance and reinsurance risk. We are a proud member of the MGA Association.
ASR is interested in people’s skills, ideas, and experiences to help grow its diverse team. ASR operates a collaborative approach which has the advantage of fostering a learning environment, ensuring that employees grow professionally and continually develop their skills and experience. ASR welcomes direct applications via its website www.asr-re.com .
London, 06 August 2021 – Africa Specialty Risks (“ASR”), the pan-African focused reinsurance group, is pleased to announce that it has launched a licensed reinsurance entity in Bermuda.
The Group will offer a full suite of products from its Bermudan reinsurer, including Political Risk & Trade Credit, Political Violence & Terrorism, Property, Energy, Liability, Construction and Parametric. Once rated, this capacity will be used to bolster our current MGA capacity supporting investment and business into and throughout Africa. Bermuda is a Solvency II equivalent global reinsurance hub.
Mikir Shah, CEO at ASR, commented: “Launching our reinsurer in Bermuda is another big step for Africa Specialty Risks as we continue to build a comprehensive offering of specialty reinsurance products and services for the African markets and beyond.
“The island is an important centre of finance and increases our footprint. The reinsurer will work closely with our group companies in London and Mauritius.”
ASR was launched by Helios Investment Partners LLP (“Helios”) in partnership with Mikir Shah, former CEO of AXA Africa Specialty Risks and Bryan Howett, former CEO of Old Mutual’s pan-African reinsurance operations.
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Heather Armstrong
Tim Pearson
James Verstringhe
Matthew Taylor
asr@tavistock.co.uk
London, 20 July 2021 – Africa Specialty Risks (“ASR”), the pan-African focused reinsurance group, is pleased to announce that it has secured an additional $10 million capacity for its Political Violence and Terrorism (“PVT”) division from Atrium Underwriting Ltd (“Atrium”). This is in addition to the multi-year binder capacity across all of ASR’s business lines, of up to $25 million per risk through a partnership with GIC of India (AM Best BBB+ (Good)) and annual capacity from Peak Re (AM Best A- (Excellent) as announced in February this year.
Atrium is a leading insurer with expertise in managing and underwriting specialist insurance and reinsurance business, exclusively at Lloyd’s. Atrium’s Syndicate 609 is made up of 12 separate Underwriting class teams, each led by an experienced market professional. The Syndicate underwrites a broad mix of Insurance and Reinsurance business, both through facilities and on a facultative basis. The firm reported capacity for 2020 as £525m, having risen from £60m in 2000.
ASR launched its PVT business line in April 2021, appointing Zouheb Azam as head of the division, and offering bespoke products that cater to the specific requirements and challenges of PVT risks in Africa, covering a broad range of perils and extensions.
Stuart Harmer, Head of Terrorism and Political Violence at Atrium commented: “We are thrilled to be partnering ASR in this new venture and have been extremely impressed with their knowledge and expertise in the African continent and we very much look forward to working with ASR in providing risk solutions for their clients in the region.”
Zouheb Azam, Head of PVT as Africa Speciality Risks, commented: “We are delighted with the additional capacity for PVT from Atrium. PVT cover is more important now than ever before, and this extra capacity will allow us to further support our clients across Africa.
“Securing capacity from Atrium is a real demonstration of the strength of ASR’s strategy and I am looking forward to driving the PVT team forward, executing our strategy of providing specialist cover to a market that is so underserved.”
ASR was launched by Helios Investment Partners LLP (“Helios”) in partnership with Mikir Shah, former CEO of AXA Africa Specialty Risks and Bryan Howett, former CEO of Old Mutual’s pan-African reinsurance operations. The group announced in February that it had secured an additional multi-year binder capacity of up to $25 million per risk through a partnership with GIC of India and annual capacity from Peak Re.
About Atrium
Atrium is a long-established leading specialist insurance and reinsurance business, underwriting through Syndicate 609 at Lloyd’s.
Atrium operates within the Lloyd’s market and has a history dating back to the 1930’s.
Atrium is rightly proud of a first-class reputation amongst its stakeholders within the insurance market. This is based on unrivalled underwriting and claims expertise, exceptional long-term performance and a ‘best in class’ managing agency. We underwrite a well-balanced portfolio, covering a wide range of specialist marine, energy, aerospace, non-marine and liability classes.
Based in London and with offices in the US, we provide access to our underwriting teams through our boxes located in the Lloyd’s building as well as our other locations
London, 24 May 2021 – Africa Specialty Risks (“ASR”), the pan-African focused reinsurance group, is today pleased to announce the launch of its parametric division, alongside the appointment of Dr Raveem Ismail as Head of Parametric Underwriting and Ian Bishop as Parametric Product Manager.
ASR Parametric brings together underwriting, technology and analytical expertise to offer innovative risk solutions. Cover will be provided for both direct and indirect loss, with no requirement for property damage.
Using technology-enabled triggers to provide the most precise coverages, ASR will work with insureds to create structures reflecting their experience of risk. This protection will also offer near immediate response for insureds, providing settlement within days of a triggering event – enabling clients to increase resilience.
Dr Ismail brings over a decade of experience in risk analysis, modelling and underwriting. Prior to joining ASR as Head of Parametric Underwriting, he was Chief Underwriting Officer and General Manager at QOMPLX:UNDERWRITING, a UK MGA where he launched the first multi-peril parametric insurance cyber and terrorism product, tailored for small to medium-sized enterprises and backed by Chaucer.
An experienced management consultant, Ian Bishop specialised in technology and innovation in the insurance and financial services sectors. He has held several senior roles over the past ten years at Deloitte Consulting and QOMPLX:UNDERWRITING, where he worked alongside Dr Ismail as Chief Operating Officer. Ian will be responsible for co-ordinating and managing the development of ASR’s parametric product factory, working with underwriters across the group.
Mikir Shah, CEO of ASR, commented: “The establishment of the parametric division demonstrates our commitment to de-risking investment and increasing resilience across the African continent. Our vision is to unlock greater and more streamlined protections for insureds, ensuring that inward investment in Africa continues to boost economic activity and growth on the continent, via the integration of innovative, technological solutions.
“Providing this sort of coverage is even more important in today’s market following the substantial impact of the global pandemic. We welcome Raveem and Ian as they develop our parametric insurance products.”
Dr Raveem Ismail, Head of Parametric Underwriting, commented: “The digital revolution across Africa has provided much needed coverage for customers who would otherwise be cut off from obtaining necessary financial services and protection.
“Our parametric insurance solutions at ASR will aim to cover risk that would otherwise be excluded in conventional insurance products – expanding the scope of insurability, eliminating complexity and giving our customers confidence.”
The launch of the parametric division and appointment of Raveem and Ian continues the rapid growth at ASR, following the recent launch of the Group’s Liability, Political Violence and Construction lines.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) provides comprehensive, risk transfer solutions through high quality underwriting to local and global customers across the African continent; giving them the confidence to grow their businesses sustainably.
ASR works proactively with local regulators to develop skills and provide training to local underwriters. Environmental, social and governance considerations are central to ASR’s values, particularly in relation to local capacity building.