Insurance companies prepare for oil and gas boom

DAR ES SALAAM, July 9, 2014 – At the brink of the much expected boom of East Africa’s oil and gas industry, local players make moves to prepare for what is expected to be a flood of foreign direct investment in the amount of dozens of billions of dollars over the next few years.

Local insurance companies are not sleeping in the goal either and came together to create a capital pool to prepare for the great demands of this particular sector. The move comes following an understanding that the lack of market capitalisation would put many of these smaller players out of the oil and gas play, but that together they could raise enough capital to shoulder international firms.

New insurance products are also being put forward for local players wanting to tap into the growing industry. Analysts indicate that Tanzania’s annual gross premium will peak at TZS2 trillion over the next decade.

“We are in the process of developing an insurance pool for local insurers to bring a certain amount as their retention share,” REAL Insurance Head of Business Development and Marketing Amani Boma told local media on Friday.

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