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  • Insurers to host 250 delegates for WAICA Confab in Lagos

    Insurers to host 250 delegates for WAICA Confab in Lagos

    The Nigerian Insurance Industry is set to host no fewer than 250 foreign and local delegates for the 2025 West Africa Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) Education Conference to provide strategic platform for deliberations on the impact of climate change on the insurance industry, as well as actionable strategies to safeguard the future of insurance education and practice.

    The conference is scheduled to take place from Sunday, 12 October to Wednesday, 15 October 2025 at the Grand Ballroom of Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

    This year’s conference, organized by the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) with the theme “The West African Insurer in the Face of Climate Change,” will bring together insurance practitioners, regulators, policymakers, and thought leaders representing countries across the West African sub-region.

    Member countries of WAICA, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia, will be represented, making the conference a truly regional platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and collaboration.

    Speaking yesterday at a press briefing on the upcoming conference held at the Insurers House, Victoria Island, Lagos, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC), 2025 WAICA Education Conference, Mrs. Ebelechuwu Nwachukwu said it is particularly important for African insurers to engage in robust discussions on climate change.

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    She stated that as the continent faces unique vulnerabilities such as extreme weather events, flooding, drought, and agricultural disruptions that directly impact businesses, communities, and livelihoods.

    She said: “For insurers, these challenges translate into rising claims, increased risk exposures, and the urgent need for innovative products and risk management strategies. By coming together at the WAICA conference, African insurers not only strengthen their collective preparedness but also position themselves to engage competitively with their global counterparts in shaping sustainable insurance practices and climate resilience solutions.

    “Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial hub and one of Africa’s most vibrant megacities, was carefully selected as the host destination of the conference for its unique blend of business dynamism, cultural heritage, and world-class hospitality infrastructure. With its strategic role as a financial hub, Lagos provides an ideal environment for fostering cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange among West Africa’s insurance community. On Sunday, 12 October 2025, the WAICA 2025 conference will begin with a Cocktail Welcome Reception at the Insurers House, Victoria Island, in Lagos.

    “The Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, has confirmed to deliver the keynote address at the Opening Ceremony of the conference on Monday, 13 October 2025, while Mr. Olusegun Omosehin, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is the Chief Host.

    “The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the 2025 WAICA Education Conference has assembled an array of eminent local and international insurance industry leaders, dignitaries, and technical experts who will speak on and critically dissect the theme and various sub-themes of the conference. These include Dr. Abiba Zakaria, Ag. Commissioner of Insurance, Ghana; Mr. Wole Oshin, Group Managing Director, Custodian Investment Plc; Mr. Bockarie Kaloko, Deputy Minister of Finance, Republic of Sierra Leone; and Ms. Tola Adegbayi, MD/CEO, Mutual Specialist.

    She continued: “Following the paper presentations, three panel sessions will be held and chaired respectively by Mr. Sunday Thomas, Former Commissioner for Insurance, NAICOM; Alhaji Mohammed Kari, Former Commissioner for Insurance (NAICOM)/Wazirin, Bauchi; and Ms. Olamipo Adeola, Head, Corporate Communication & Branding, Scib Nigeria & Co. Ltd.

    “The LOC have put in place adequate arrangements for the transportation and security of foreign delegates and other participants at the conference to ensure a seamless and safe experience throughout their stay in Lagos.

    “The 2025 WAICA Education Conference promises to be a landmark event, reinforcing regional cooperation and highlighting the critical role of insurers in responding to climate challenges while offering delegates a unique opportunity to experience the dynamism of Lagos”, she noted.

  • Climate Change: WAICA Re urges more agriculture insurance uptake

    The Group Managing Director, WAICA Reinsurance Corporation, Mr. Abiola Ekundayo, has stressed the need  for  an increase in agriculture insurance uptake by players in the agricultural sector value-chain to cover risks that can lead to low farm yield.

    He said this was necessary with climate change negatively affecting farmers’ productivity across the world, especially, in Africa.

    He spoke at the WAICA Re International Agriculture Insurance Seminar held in Harare, Zimbabwe.

    He noted that though Africa has about 17 per cent of the world’s pastures and arable land, the value of premiums for agricultural insurance in Africa represents less than 0.7 per cent of the world’s total.

    This remarkably low figure, he said, is deplorable when one considers that about 60 per cent of the active population in Africa is working in the agricultural sector and that with the advent of climate change, the risks in agricultural activities are becoming even more frequent and severe.

    For smallholder farmers, he said, agriculture insurance offsets risks associated with weather fluctuations, adding that, risk reduction can make it more likely that a farmer will qualify for credit and thus invest in the tools and resources, such as, seed, fertilizer, labour, among others, needed prior to harvest that would potentially increase crop yields.

    Stating that Agric Insurance provides farmers with the peace of mind required to invest savings into businesses, he added that, this also increases their confidence to engage in contracts with buyers and processors.

    On agricultural micro-insurance, he suggested the development of index insurance, an approach he said, pays out benefits on the basis of a predetermined index, such as, rainfall level, livestock mortality rates, and so on, for loss of assets and investments resulting from weather and catastrophic events, without requiring the traditional services of insurance claims assessors to assess individual losses.

    With the development of new technologies for the management of insurance schemes, such as the adoption of mobile payments, he said, costs have the potential to drop even further.

    As the dynamics regulating claim payments are known to both parties at the onset, index insurance also reduces the information asymmetry between clients and insurers on the risks insured, something that continues to be an issue for classic insurance schemes, he pointed out.

  • WAICA Re grows authorised share capital to $100m

    WAICA Reinsurance Plc (WAICA Re) has an authorised share capital of $100 million with paid-up share capital amounting to $50 million under its management, the Managing Director, Mr. Bola Ekundayo, has said.

    Ekundayo, who spoke with reporters in South Africa, said the ownership of the paid-up share capital is distributed amongst WAICA members, other institutions and individual investors.

    WAICA Re was established as a reinsurance organisation to help mitigate the effects of the lack of reinsurance capacity within the West African insurance industry.

    He however, said the company has repositioned and strengthened its business across all the regions of Africa where its businesses are located and all the regions of Africa

    He stated that the company has also provided both Treaty and Facultative Re-insurance to the African market and beyond.

    He said: “The company is assisting insurance companies in training and retraining of their staff in the area of terrorism and agriculture insurance that is not being taken seriously in some parts of the region.

    “We are also training insurance companies in special risk areas such as oil and gas in order to improve their knowledge”.

    Speaking on its performance for 2018, he said that business has been good and their premium income has grown.

    “Our premium income is growing, because last year we made profits and we  are going to pay dividend to our shareholders. We have been consistent in paying dividend for the past four years and sometimes we issue bonuses in order to increase the capital base of the company which has made us to be one of the biggest reinsurance companies in Africa when it comes to capitalisation.

    “We have paid a lot of claims in Nigeria and Ghana. We also suffered some major losses even in some French speaking countries but despite that, our premium has been growing as we had expected.”

  • WAICA re-grows authorised share capital to $100m

    WAICA Reinsurance Plc (WAICA ) has an authorised share capital of $100 million with paid-up share capital amounting to approximately $50 million currently under its management, the Managing Director, Mr. Bola Ekundayo, has said.

    Ekundayo, who spoke with reporters in South Africa, said the ownership of the paid-up share capital is distributed amongst WAICA members, other institutions and individual investors.

    WAICA Re was established as a reinsurance organisation to help mitigate the effects of the lack of reinsurance capacity within the West African insurance industry.

    He however, said the company has repositioned and strengthened its business across all the regions of Africa where its businesses are located and all the regions of Africa

    He stated that the company has also provided both Treaty and Facultative Re-insurance to the African market and beyond.

    He said: “The company is assisting insurance companies in training and retraining of their staff in the area of terrorism and agriculture insurance that is not being taken seriously in some parts of the region.

    “We are also training insurance companies in special risk areas such as oil and gas in order to improve their knowledge”.

    Speaking on its performance for 2018, he said that business has been good and their premium income has grown.

    “Our premium income is growing, because last year we made profits and we  are going to pay dividend to our shareholders. We have been consistent in paying dividend for the past four years and sometimes we issue bonuses in order to increase the capital base of the company which has made us to be one of the biggest reinsurance companies in Africa when it comes to capitalisation.

    “We have paid a lot of claims in Nigeria and Ghana. We also suffered some major losses even in some French speaking countries but despite that, our premium has been growing as we had expected.”

  • WAICA RE posts $62.1m premium

    WAICA Reinsurance Corporation has posted a 26 per cent growth in gross premium income from $49.2 million in 2016 financial year end to $62.1 million in 2017. WAICA Re is owned  by West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA).

    ln its member countries, The Gambia recorded the highest level of growth of 30 per cent, followed by Nigeria 19 per cent and Ghana 15 per cent. Sadly, however, the Corporation recorded negative growth of 36 per cent and 8 per cent in Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively.

    Its Chairman, Kofi Duffuor while speaking at the  5th Annual General Meeting (AGM), which held in Nigeria for the first time since its existence, said they are working hard to improve on the performance in the coming years.

    He said in line with their strategic objective of growing the business beyond the Anglophone West Africa region, they attained a remarkable growth level in the Francophone Africa region in 2017.

    He stated that the French region grew by an impressive 34 per cent while earnings from other overseas countries also grew by 33 per cent.

    “Our Tunisia office, which started operations in June 2017, raked in $104 million premium income,” he added.

    Speaking on countries’ premium income, he noted that whereas the Anglophone West-African region, “which is our home market, contributed 47 of the 2017 premium income, while the rest of Africa, parts of Middle East and Asian markets, generated 53 of their premium income”.

    He said: “The Corporation embarked on a significant market expansion programme over the years and the above is thus an indication of our improved market position in terms of coverage and footprint across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

    “Retrocession premium remained relatively unchanged due to increased retention arising from the additional capital raised in December 2016.”

  • WAICA Re to hold AGM in Nigeria

    Waica Reinsurance Corporation Plc owned by the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) is set to hold its board meeting and 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Nigeria for the first time since its incorporation in 2011.

    A statement by the company’s Managing Director, Abiola Ekundayo stated that the board meeting is scheduled to hold on July 23 while AGM will hold the following day.

    According to Ekundayo, WAICA Re is a public limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Sierra Leone (Companies Act 2009) on  March 7, 2011.

    He said: “In the years following the creation of West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) in 1973, the founding fathers desired to establish a reinsurance organisation to help mitigate the effects of the lack of reinsurance capacity in West Africa. To fulfill this ambition, the founding fathers considered it prudent to start off by creating a reinsurance pool, which hopefully, will someday metamorphose into a fully-fledged reinsurance corporation. Today, the WAICA Reinsurance Pool has turned into WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc, a dream come true.

    “There is no gain in saying that there is lack of reinsurance capacity in the West African sub-region, which situation is compelling insurance companies to seek reinsurance protection in other parts of the world where the treaties offered are not competitive and/or affordable and the service sometimes almost non-existent. The WAICA Executive Council gives impetus to the development and realisation of the idea of establishing a fully-fledged reinsurance institution, then embarked on revitalising and implementing the WAICA Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re).

    ‘’To this end, the Executive Committee endorsed the age-old decision to locate the headquarters of WAICA Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re) in Freetown, Sierra Leone and to have major centres in Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria.’’

     

     

     

  • WAICA Re records $62.5m premium

    WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc has recorded a gross premium of $62.5milion in its 2017 financial year, from the $49.2 million in 2016, Chairman of the corporation, Kofi Duffuor has said.

    He said the corporation also grew its profit from six point two million dollars to seven million dollars.

    Also, he said the corporation paid dividends of over $25 million.

    The firm’s Managing Director, Abiola Ekundayo said the corporation has an authorised share capital of $100 million with $25 million expected to be paid at the end of the on-going equity capital subscription.

    He noted that 2017 was a good year compared to 2015 and 2016.

    He said: “I can say that 2017 was as good as any other year as from the time we started. We have been consistently paying dividend to our shareholders. Although we posted good results in 2017, there were issues in 2016. WAICA Re would have been able to do better in terms of the nets due to our people. But the currency devaluation in all the countries affected our business. Currencies were not stable. In Nigeria alone for example, in 2015 and 2016, we lost about $4 million and another $2 million to exchange loss. At present, we are looking at the year for things to get better.

    “WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc is a public limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Sierra Leone (Companies Act 2009) on  March 7, 2011. In the years following the creation of West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) in 1973, the founding fathers desired to establish a reinsurance organisation to help mitigate the effects of the lack of reinsurance capacity in West Africa.

    ‘’To fulfill this ambition, the founding fathers considered it prudent to start off by creating a reinsurance pool, which hopefully, will someday metamorphose into a fully-fledged reinsurance corporation. Today, the WAICA Reinsurance Pool has turned into WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc, a dream come true.

    “There is no gain in saying that there is lack of reinsurance capacity in the West African sub-region, which situation is compelling insurance companies to seek reinsurance protection in other parts of the world where the treaties offered are not competitive and/or affordable and the service sometimes almost non-existent.’’

    ‘’The WAICA Executive Council gives impetus to the development and realisation of the idea of establishing a fully-fledged reinsurance institution, then embarked on revitalising and implementing the WAICA Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re).

    ‘’To this end, the Executive Committee endorsed the age-old decision to locate the headquarters of WAICA Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re) in Freetown, Sierra Leone and to have major centres in Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria.’’

    Apart from providing reinsurance capacity, the establishment of WAICA Re is a good example of regional socio-economic integration,’’ the firm said.

  • WAICA Re posts $49.6m premium income

    WAICA Reinsurance (WAICA Re) Corporation Plc has recorded increase in its premium income from $33.5 million in 2015 to $49.6 million, representing about 35 per cent growth, the Managing Director, Abiola Ekundayo has said.

    He made this known to reporters in Kampala, the Ugandan capital on the sidelines of the just-concluded 44th African Insurance Organisation (AIO).

    He said WAICA Re is a Sierra- Leone-based and the reinsurance firm of the West African Insurance Companies Association.

    He said the reinsurance firm  achieved growth, despite the setback from Nigeria and Sierra Leone on fluctuation of the currency, noting that the naira has reduced Nigeria’s insurance premium income by 50 per cent.

    According to him, WAICA Re has over N2billion insurance pool invested in its Nigerian account, which has suffered depreciation as a result of the fall in naira value.

    ‘’At the close of the business last year, we lost about $6.5 million to exchange loss but emerge with a profit of $6.3 million,’’ he added.

    Ekundayo said: “We had a lot of challenges last year especially from Nigeria because of the devaluation of the currency. The premium income of Nigeria reduced by almost 50 per cent because we report in dollars.

    “We kept a lot of money in Nigeria including the money inherited from the pool were invested in Nigeria. We had over N2 billion, which faced the fall of the currency from N198 to N305 to a dollar.  There was also devaluation of the currency in Sierra Leone as a result of the problem they had with Ebola.

     

  • WAICA Re trains reinsurers

    WAICA Reinsurance has trained its members across Africa on Advanced Marine and Claims International to bridge knowledge gap in the insurance industry.

    Its Managing Director, Abiola Ekundayo who made this known during the fourth   training of the firm in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    He said the firm chose Advanced Marine and Claims International as the year’s topic which is tailored along the needs of the companies.

    He said: “You will agree with me that this topic is deep and technical and not many people are found in this area. I want to assure you that the programme would make our industry to be able to boast of many marine underwriters. We also introduced management topics to develop members on leadership roles in future as well as information technology.

    “It is our practice to rotate the programme amongst WAICA RE operating states, hence our resolve to bring it to Nigeria this year. We have participated from all over Africa and beyond. Our intention is to keep members together, that was why we have decided to take the venue out of Lagos, otherwise Nigerians would not stay together with their colleagues but we want active interaction, who knows?’’

    WIACA RE as a reinsurance company has made manpower development as one of its prime concerns for the insurance industry in Africa and beyond hence our maiden edition of this training was held in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 2012.

  • WAICA Re makes $33.5m

    WAICA Re makes $33.5m

    WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc’s gross premium income grew from $24.2 million in 2014 to $33.5 million in its financial year ended December 2015, representing a 39 per cent growth.

    The Corporation made this known during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the year ended 31st December, 2015.

    It has five member-countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, as its key markets. Others are Sierra Leone, Gambia and Liberia.

    However, the Corporation was unable to hold the 2014 AGM as a result of the constraints the Ebola virus epidemic placed on its economies and operations.

    At the AGM, the Chairman Mr. Kofi Duffuor, said while 2015 was challenging due to the deadly Ebola virus epidemic, it was also a year of further progress for WAICA Re in terms of strategy, operations and a robust financial performance.

    He said the retrocession premium equally increased to $2 million from $1.6 million in 2014, stating that after adjusting for unearned premium reserve, net earned premium increased by 46 per cent from $19 million in 2014 to $27.7 million in 2015.

    He said: “Interest rates remained stable during the first three quarters of the year in the countries in which we hold investments, but in the fourth quarter, rates on fixed deposits in Nigeria took a downward trend, falling from 10 per cent in September 2015 to six per cent in December, 2015.

    “We also have to disinvest some term deposits to acquire investment properties. As a result, investment and other income saw a marginal increase from $2.1 million in 2014 to $2.3 million in 2015.

    “The growth in premium income came with a corresponding increase in claims and commission expenses. Of particular significance to our claims expenditure was the flooding that took place in Ghana in June 2015. Underwriting expenses, therefore, grew by 47 per cent to 17.1 million from the 2014 figure of $11.6 million. Management expenses increased from $5.8 million in 2014 to $7.1 million in 2015.”

    He noted that as recorded in 2014, the United States dollar once again proved stronger against most currencies on the back of a robust growth of the US economy, adding that there was, therefore, a further depreciation of currencies across the WAICA member countries as well as most of the countries in which they generate premium income.

    The effect, he stated, was an exchange loss of $1 million.

    “For the fourth year, your Corporation continues to improve on its bottom line. Net profit saw a 53 per cent increase to $5.8 million from $3.8 million in 2014. As at 31st December, 2015 WAICA Re’s total assets stood at $61.4 million, representing a 17 per cent growth over the 2014 figure of $52.6 million while shareholders’ funds increased by 14 per cent from $33.6 million in 2014 to $38.4 million in 2015.

    ”Our Life Reassurance unit commenced operations in June, 2015. The Unit was responsible for all Life reassurance business across Africa. The Unit generated a premium income of $83,447 during the period. After accounting for commission expenses of $22,131 and management expenses of $76,745, a loss of $15,429 was made. We hope to grow this line of business to boost the income of the Corporation.”

    On dividend, the chairman said the Board  recommended for shareholder’s approval, a dividend of $1.500 million for the year ended 31st December, 2014.

    Since they could not hold the intended AGM, he said, they decided to pay an interim dividend of $1million.

    ‘’For the financial year, we are recommending a cash dividend of $1,000,000 and a bonus share of $1,215,580.  WAICA Re is a much stronger reinsurer today than we were a year ago. We have set the platform for a greater future, established strong financial, technical and operational paths that will spur us on to be the preferred reinsurer for our cedants and brokers, providing cover with speed and efficiency to delight business partners and build shareholder value,’’ he said.