"We have not scratched even a quarter of the Egyptian Takaful market," Mohammed el-Dishish, chairman of Nile Family Takaful Company told The Islamic Globe, "So our plan is to expand within the country first before we think of other market."
El-Dishish's positive outlook on the potential of the Egyptian Takaful market is illustrated by the fact that in the last three-and-a-half years, eight Takaful firms have set up shop in Egypt.
Nile Family Takaful has a leadership position in the market, and despite only starting operations in 2010, took EGP£10m ($1.6m) in premiums last year, with forecasted premiums of EGP£50m ($8.3m) this year - a 500% increase.
Takaful is fairly new in Egypt, having only been regulated since 2008. However, the penetration of conventional insurance is very low in Egypt (0.8% of GDP, compared to, for example, 2.8% in Kenya and 12.9% in South Africa), so el-Dishish sees the opportunity to approach new consumers and create bespoke Takaful solutions for an emerging market.
Koncept Analytics, a specialist insurance research house, said: "The insurance market of Egypt is considered to be underdeveloped but it has strong growth potential, mainly in the consumer sector."
The other Takaful firms operating in Egypt are Arab Orient Takaful Insurance, Egyptian Saudi Insurance House, Egyptian for Takaful Insurance Company, Nile General Takaful, Solidarity for Family Takaful Insurance and Wethaq.
© The Islamic Globe 2011
