Kenya Reinsurance Corporation is looking to push its revenue growth beyond the 13% it enjoyed in the first half of this year by diversifying into the Islamic space.
The launch of a Shari'ah compliant reTakaful operation in East Africa means the Kenya Re should be able the snare the business of Kenya's Takaful Insurance of Africa, as well as that of conventional insurers that have opened up Islamic windows, such as Canon Assurance.
The company's post tax profits grew to $9.4m in the first half of this year compared to $8.3m last year. However, claims increased by $2m in the first six months of this year attributable to payments for fire claims from a client in India and Kenya. Net premiums grew by 11%, while investment income grew by 41 %, the company's CEO Jadiah Mwarania (pictured) told The Islamic Globe, he said: "Our plan is to continue growing premiums by focusing on new markets, new products and deepening our penetration in markets that we already operate in."
In addition to ReTakaful, the firm is also venturing into micro-reinsurance. Mwarania said the roll-out of the ReTakaful subsidiary will be by branch expansion, the same model the conventional arm has used to expand.
© The Islamic Globe 2011
