All MENA articles
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NewsMiddle East PV continues to soften amid new London market entrants – IGI’s Abulqasim
Zuhair Abulqasim, senior underwriter for political violence at IGI, based in the DIFC, will be joining the PV roundtable taking place during DWIC 2025.
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NewsDavies opens Qatar office to grow Middle East footprint
Ricky Maloney, who serves as Qatar country executive and head of the GCC region, will lead the office.
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NewsEl Bahtouri and Bouanani join Specialty MGA in Casablanca
Laila El Bahtouri and Mohamed Bader Bouanani join the Middle East and African focused MGA from Moroccan reinsurer SCR.
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NewsDWIC speaker preview: Crisis management lessons with WTW’s Thomson-Hall
At next month’s Dubai World Insurance Congress (DWIC) 2025 event in Dubai, speaker Pamela Thomson-Hall, CEO, international, WTW, will share insights on managing geopolitical risk crises.
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NewsMENA re/insurers’ ratings trending ‘positive’ despite regional challenges – AM Best
Despite country risk and the Middle East and North Africa region’s challenging regional geopolitical conditions, the rating agency says re/insurers’ creditworthiness is net positive.
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NewsHiscox, Howden, Swiss Re and Insurance Development Forum launch $9.25m Syrian drought partnership
Re/insurance firms working together on climate risk insurance project to protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of drought in Syria.
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NewsMS Amlin expands DIFC presence with MENA credit and political risk launch
Lloyd’s speciality insurer expands Dubai operations with hire of Osama Elshiekh from The Hartford.
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NewsASR launches first Africa focused Lloyd’s consortium
Baobab will work across political risk, trade credit, political violence & terrorism, property, energy, construction and liability lines.
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NewsSaudi Re highlights impact of local market reinsurance premium cession
The Saudi regulator’s regime for local market reinsurance premium cession takes effect from 1 January 2025, affecting at least 30% of all reinsurance treaties and facultative risks, Saudi Re noted in remarks published on the country’s stock exchange website.
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NewsSaudi Re appoints Ahmed Al-Jabr as new CEO
The reinsurer’s new CEO was previously leading Saudi Re in an acting capacity; in the first half of 2024 Saudi Re grew its book by 19% to SAR 1.4bn gross premium.
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NewsPositive pricing dynamics benefit MENA and SSA reinsurers – AM Best
Two reports from rating agency AM Best give an upbeat summary of the market environment for reinsurers in the regions of Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
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NewsGIG appoints new board led by Fairfax’s Khosrowshahi as chairman
Fairfax Financial is majority shareholder of Kuwait-based Middle East insurer Gulf Insurance Group.
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NewsHannover ReTakaful: ‘We are fully committed to the MENA region’
Olaf Brock, managing director and CEO of Hannover Re’s Bahrain branch and Hannover ReTakaful, provided GR with a pre-DWIC Q&A.
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NewsThe new PV reinsurance market hub in Dubai
There are at least ten active carriers or MGAs of political violence re/insurance operating from the Dubai International Financial Centre, one senior Dubai-based underwriter says.
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NewsCanopius appoints CEO for APAC and MENA
Specialty re/insurer Canopius has announced the appointment of Soon Keen Lee as CEO of Asia-Pacific and Middle East & North Africa, subject to regulatory approval.
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NewsSaudi the ‘main driver’ for Dubai business – IGI’s Labat
IGI’s Dubai hub prioritises facultative business, because treaty reinsurance competition is fierce in the Middle East and sees a construction boom in Saudi Arabia as its biggest pipeline for growth.
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NewsMiddle East retention levels rising – Chedid Re’s Abi Rached
Local insurers have “more skin in the game” due to the hard market for reinsurance.
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NewsOman Re gains Retakaful licence
Oman’s Capital Market Authority grants a licence for Oman Re to underwrite Retakaful, providing Islamic compliant reinsurance solutions for Takaful business.
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NewsTrust Re seeks return to rating as rebuild continues – Albaharna GAIF34 interview
Chief executive of Trust Re explains the reinsurer plans to restore it’s former rated A-rated status, putting an end to temporary fronting arrangements while its shareholding issue is resolved.
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NewsDriving behaviours to increase climate risk resilience – SCOR at GAIF34
Reinsurance rates are being driven by increased claims and exposures, but the insurance industry has the data in its power to incentivise construction practices that will in turn reduce insureds’ exposure to climate change, and the prices paid for protection.
