The Cooperative Insurance Society – Egypt signed two agreements worth EGP 175 million with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to manage the bank’s insurance portfolio. The first agreement covers the bank’s branches in Suez Canal region which are more than 18 as well as the bank’s branches in Lower Egypt with EGP 25 million, said Refky Lotfy Rashed, managing director of CIS. The second agreement covers the bank against the Murabaha credit risks as well as risks of fire and burglary with EGP 150 million, he added. The Society also signed an agreement with the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt to insure loans offered to bakeries of Egyptian bread against credit risks including default on payment, fire and burglary with EGP 25 million and there are still talks over new insurance programs, Rashed elaborated. He added that CIS signed a contract with Banque Misr to foster mutual cooperation through offering personal loans again, noting that the Society received premiums worth EGP one million from the bank. CIS also reached an agreement with Alex Bank Intesa Sanpaolo on the method by which CIS will pay its debts as long as the Society will insure the bank. CIS also renewed its agreement with Assiut Businessmen Association to insure the credit facilities offered by the Association with insurance premium of EGP 825,000. The Society also insures Bank Audi with EGP 30 million and the Society deposits EGP 5 billion in Bank Audi. More»

The Social Fund for Development (SFD) has financed about 4590 projects totally or partly based on modern technological inputs with EGP 85 million since it was established, said Ghada Wali, secretary general of SFD. On the sidelines of Youth Employment Generation in Egypt Conference organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Wali revealed that the number of technological projects is so small as compared to the number of other projects in Egypt, stressing the importance of increasing the number of these projects in the upcoming period. SFD signed an agreement with Information and Communication Technology Outsourcing (ITIDA) after 2011’s revolution to finance 23 small companies in Information and Communications Technology sector with EGP 30 million, she noted. Wali affirmed that the mangers of these projects are in need to be trained on marketing skills not only to be financed, noting that there are several initiatives by SFD in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications to support small and medium-sized enterprises in this field in order to create many jobs. SFD also signed an agreement with the World Bank to finance SMEs in the field, she added. SFD is about to launch a project to mechanize the borrowing process by which customers can deal with SFD through its website without going to one of its branches, she added. More»

According to a study by Munich Re, the global insurance market will grow strongly in the years to come. Munich Re’s Insurance Market Outlook 2013 arrives at the conclusion that growth rates will be especially strong in emerging countries. Growth in the reinsurance market will be slower than that in the primary insurance industry. “The global economic recovery is also benefiting the insurance industry. We expect the economies of key industrialized countries to improve in the second half of 2013 and in 2014. Consequently, this will lend impetus to demand for insurance”, said Michael Menhart, Munich Re’s Chief Economist. According to Munich Re’s estimates, until 2020 the property-casualty insurance market as a whole will grow by approximately 50% compared with 2012 to €1.85tn, and the life insurance market by almost two-thirds to €3.1tn. Growth in insurance and reinsurance in emerging countries will be significantly stronger than in industrialized countries. Nevertheless, the mature markets in North America, western Europe and the industrialized countries of the Asia/Pacific region remain the dominating growth force. In terms of total primary insurance premiums, their share will fall back to about 73% by 2020 – around ten percentage points lower than in 2012. The share generated by the emerging countries in Asia will move up from 8% to 16%. “Approximately half of all the additional premium earned between 2013 and 2020 will come from the USA, China and Japan. In this respect, saturated markets and emerging markets both represent great potential for growth in insurance and reinsurance alike”, said Menhart. More»

The Social Fund for Development (SFD) has allocated US$ 25 million for Alexandria Business Association to finance small and micro-enterprises, said Ghada Wali, secretary general of SFD. This finance is part of the US$ 300 million secured by SFD under a protocol of cooperation on labor intensive investment project signed with the World Bank and International Union, she added. The labor intensive investment project aims at employing Egyptians all over the country through a protocol of cooperation signed with ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture. SFS is in the sixth rank in Egypt in receiving foreign loans and grants. More»

Misr Life Insurance Company achieved premiums of EGP 1.307 billion in the first nine months of FY 2012/2013, compared to EGP 1.139 billion in the compared period, registering a growth rate of 14.8%. The company’s direct individual premiums reached EGP 669 million, compared to EGP 598 million in the corresponding period in the last fiscal year, registering an increase of 12%. Misr Insurance Company’s group insurance premiums rose 16% to reach EGP 617 million by the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to EGP 532 million in the third quarter of the last fiscal year. The company’s health insurance premiums reached EGP 20.3 million at the end of last March, compared to EGP 8.7 million in the corresponding period in the last fiscal year, registering a growth rate of 133.3%. The value of new individual insurance policies reached EGP 3.074 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, compared to EGP 2.499 billion in the corresponding period in the last fiscal year, registering a growth rate of 23%. The value of group insurance policies reached EGP 45.938 billion at the end of last March, compared to EGP 40.268 billion at the end of March 2012, registering an increase of 14.1%. More»

Egypt's parliament approved a new income tax law on Monday that will increase levies paid by the wealthy and by companies but reduce it for people in lower income brackets. Income inequality was one of the issues that sparked the uprising that ousted autocratic president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood held up the changes as proof of its commitment to social justice - a possible vote winner with parliamentary elections approaching later this year. The new tax regime may also help Egypt in its negotiations for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF is asking the government to reduce a budget deficit expected to reach 11.5 percent of gross domestic product in the year to end-June. More»

Misr Insurance Company has signed a contract with one of the largest Egyptian electricity generation companies to insure its three projects in Ethiopia, Niger and Ghana, said Hossam Olama, general manager of marine insurance sector at the company. The insurance policy will cover all aspects of marine cargo and storage risks. Misr Insurance Company is responsible for transporting the equipments of the electricity generation company to the three African counties as well as insuring them when being stored, installed and maintained. The insurance value of each project is US$ 100 million. He noted that marine insurance customers always get insurance coverage from insurers in their country, affirming that the company always helps Egyptian customers in their foreign expansions. More»

Egypt's new planning minister said on Saturday he was confident the country would reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $4.8 billion loan program, although the timing of its next visit to Cairo was unclear. The IMF said on Thursday it was not currently planning a new visit to Egypt to discuss the program as it was awaiting new economic data and reform plans from the government. "I am not sure about the time of return but what I am sure about is that we are going to close a deal because there is a lot of agreement," Planning Minister Amr Darrag told Reuters. "It is going to be closed," he said on the sidelines of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) conference in Istanbul. Hany Kadry Dimian, a senior Egyptian finance ministry official who has been the point man in the protracted and so far fruitless negotiations, said this month he hoped to conclude the remaining stages with the global lender as soon as possible. More»

Delta Life Insurance Company achieved premiums of EGP 104.1 million in the first nine months of FY 2012/2013. The volume of the company’s group insurance premiums reached EGP 84.5 million and individual insurance premiums reached EGP 19.6 million at the end of last March, said Mohamed Mowafy, general manager of life and medical insurance sales sector at the company. The value of paid compensations reached EGP 27.034 million and insurance activity surplus rate registered 180% at the end of last December, he added. He affirmed that the insurance sector plays an important role in crises, so insurance companies and federations as well as Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority shall cooperate to raise people’s insurance awareness in the current period. More»

The Egyptian Saudi Insurance House (ESIH) plans to expand geographically in Upper Egypt in the upcoming period, said Abdel Raouf Kotb, managing director of ESIH. The the industrial sector in Upper Egypt is currently developing and this will accordingly boost the business volume of insurance companies, he affirmed. The main roles of insurance companies are expanding geographically to serve all segments of the society and creating integration between insurers to serve all kinds of customers, Kotb added. ESIH also targets to open a representative office in Assiut, as part of the insurer’s plan to expand in Upper Egypt, said Moustafa Mhanna, director of technical and administrative affairs at the company. The insurer also asked for the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority’s approval to issue a new insurance policy, Mhanna added. It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian Saudi Insurance House targets to achieve premiums of EGP 175 million in FY 2012/2013, with an annual increase of 10.7%. More»