West African Reinsurance Corporation, WAICA Re has reportedly incurred net claims of USD 30.5 million during the financial year 2020, marking a 63% increase from the USD 18.7 million claims registered in 2019.
The claims are being paid in nine West African countries where the company currently operates, namely Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Côte d’Ivoire.
According to sources, the unprecedented growth has been attributed to augmenting business volumes, and surging claims reserves across the nations.
Speaking at WAICA Re’s 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM), Chairman Kofi Duffuor was quoted saying that facultative claims accounted for 59% of the total claims paid while treaty claims contributed 41%. He further reiterated that the net loss incurred ratio rose to 39% in 2020, as compared to just 31% in 2019.
The chairman stated that net commission expenses increased to USD 23.5 million during 2020, up from USD 17.6 million in 2019, which translated to a 33% rise, primarily as a direct function of earnings growth.
Operating expenses saw a year-on-year decline of 4%, driven by active management efforts to reduce costs. The figures stood at USD 17.1 million in 2020, down from USD 18.2 million in the previous year, with a simultaneous decrease in the expense ratio from 31% in 2019 to 22% in 2020.
All-in-all, he revealed, the combined ratio progressed to 91% in 2020, a 2% decline from 93% in 2019.
Notably, WAICA Re has continued the trend of recording formidable underwriting profitability due to judicious selection of risk and underwriting projects.
According to sources, underwriting profit increased from USD 5 million in 2019 to nearly USD 8.8 million in 2020, an astounding growth rate of over 77%, while the technical margin plunged from 40 % in 2019 to 33 % in 2020.
Meanwhile, the underwriting margin saw a 2% increase, improving from 9% in 2019 to 11% in the succeeding year, cited sources with knowledge of the matter.
Source Credits –
https://leadership.ng/waica-re-incurs-30-5m-claims-across-9-west-african-countries/