The president of the Senegalese Federation of Insurance Companies (FSSA) has called for more appropriate regulations, tax exemption for life insurance products, the expansion of bancassurance and microinsurance and intensified financial inclusion efforts. The objective is to foster the development of the insurance market, particularly life insurance.
The insurance market in Senegal saw significant growth with a turnover reaching FCFA290bn ($504m) in 2024, revealed Mr Papa Amadou Diagne, executive secretary of the Financial Services Quality Observatory (OQSF).
Côte d'Ivoire collected FCFA594.8bn ($1.03bn) in insurance premiums in 2023, compared to Cameroon's FCFA270.6bn and Senegal's FCFA268.6bn,according to the latest available figures from the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF).
Senegal's Ministry of Finance and Budget has endorsed the digitalisation of motor insurance policies, an initiative of the Association of Insurers of Senegal (AAS).
Senegal's insurance sector faces largely a reputational risk at present, due to failing persistently to abide by commitments entered into, according to Mr Mamadou Dème, director of insurance at the Ministry of Finance and Budget.
Insurance companies in Senegal have set up an "Oil & Gas Risks Insurance Pool" to unify their underwriting capacity in this specialty field and also to improve their negotiating power with the international reinsurance market.
The new requirement for insurance companies to increase their minimum capital to FCFA5bn ($8.4m) can put pressure on the profitability of companies, especially for those that are smaller or have lower profit margins, says Mr Mamadou Dème, director of insurance at the Ministry of Finance and Budget.
The insurance sector in Senegal performed well overall in 2022, showing resilience in the face of the COVID pandemic as well as shocks from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, according to Mr Mamadou Dème, director of insurance at the Ministry of Finance and Budget.
Wafa Assurance has posted MAD11.6bn ($1.13bn) in consolidated turnover in 2022, an improvement of 18.9% over 2021. It outperformed the Moroccan insurance market whose turnover improved by 9.3% to MAD54.9bn in 2022.
Johannesburg-headquartered The African Risk Capacity (ARC) has launched a parametric insurance product against high-impact epidemic risks and Senegal is the first African country to join this new innovative financing mechanism.