13th August 2019 - Author: Charlie Wood Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re is set to open an underwriting office in Abidjan, Ivory Coast following regulatory approval from the Inter-African Conference of Insurance Markets (CIMA). Expected to be fully operational by October 1, the office will be headed by Swiss Re’s current Head of West Africa, Awa Koné. Swiss Re says the move will facilitate an expansion of its services in the region, including core reinsurance solutions and transactional opportunities. “Swiss Re is excited about increasing our engagement in the CIMA region,” remarked Koné. “A presence in the Ivory Coast will allow our clients to access the full range of Swiss Re’s Reinsurance services.” The new office represents part of a wider market presence strategy from Swiss Re, and follows the re-domiciling of its Southern African P&C business to South Africa and the creation of Swiss Re Africa in 2018. “As one of the world’s leading risk knowledge companies, our presence in Abidjan means that insurers across the CIMA region will benefit from increased reinsurance opportunities, as well as having access to Swiss Re’s cutting-edge research and risk expertise and reinsurance capacity,” Said Beat Strebel, Market Executive Middle East & Africa. Strebel added that the move will “strengthen the insurance industry in the region.”
Swiss Re will open an underwriting office in Ivory Coast, following approval by the Inter-African Conference of Insurance Markets (CIMA). The Abidjan office will be run by the reinsurance company’s West Africa head, Awa Kone. The company said the opening, scheduled for October, would increase reinsurance opportunities in the CIMA region and offer greater access to its research and risk expertise. Swiss Re Africa was created in 2018 when the company’s Southern African P&C operation was re-domiciled to South Africa.