Insurance

Across the African continent, South Africa accounts for 80% of all insurance premiums. The market is heavily tilted towards life products, which make up four-fifths of the industry’s premiums, with earnings in the segment 10 times that of non-life in 2013. At year-end 2013, South Africa’s life insurance industry had $189.4bn in assets under management, with the segment’s top five firms showing signs of growth across the board that year. Penetration rates continue to rise: the number of formally insured South Africans grew from 6.2m people in 2012 to 7.8m in 2013. While the life insurance segment saw a strong performance in 2013, non-life growth was tempered by high claims. Strong investment market performance in the last two years has boosted insurers, but a stalling economy presents challenges in the near term.

This chapter contains an interview with Barry Scott, CEO, South African Insurance Association.