Africa Specialty Risks: ASR Syndicate 2454 at Lloyd's
Africa Specialty Risks (ASR), the pan-African focused (re)insurance group, has launched ASR Syndicate 2454, the first African-focused entity writing business at Lloyd’s, managed by Apollo.
ASR Syndicate officially began its underwriting activities on 26 April 2024, with a projected gross premium of approximately £70m (US$87.7m) for the year. The syndicate's operations will cover ASR’s established lines of business, including Political Risk and Trade Credit, Political Violence and Terrorism, Parametric, Energy, Property, Construction, Liability, and Treaty. Plans are also in place to introduce new lines of business in 2024, pending necessary regulatory approvals.
Expanding Lloyd's Footprint in Africa
This new initiative provides an opportunity for ASR and Lloyd’s to capitalise on ASR’s broad network and deep experience in the African market, aiming to introduce high-quality, locally sourced African business to the London market. The syndicate plans to form consortia at Lloyd’s following Syndicate 2454 to increase capacity significantly.
Despite Africa accounting for only 2% of Lloyd’s current business, Syndicate 2454 is strategically positioned to increase this share. Since starting in February 2021, ASR’s goal has been to bridge the insurance gap in Africa and to support international investments within the continent. To date, ASR has managed to de-risk more than US$20bn in projects and assets across 49 African countries.
In addition to its activities in Africa, ASR has begun to extend its operations to the Middle East. It has recently secured an "in principle" agreement from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to establish an office in the Emirate. This expansion complements ASR's existing binder arrangements with international and local African reinsurers, strengthening its position in the global insurance market.
Mikir Shah, CEO of ASR comments: “We are delighted that Syndicate 2454 is now up and running at Lloyd’s. “Across ASR, we are building a business whose prime mission is to increase insurance penetration across Africa, and Syndicate 2454 is another positive step in helping us achieve our objective. Working with Apollo and Lloyd’s, we hope to be able to bring innovative risk mitigation solutions to the African insurance market and encourage high quality international capital and investment to take advantage of the vast opportunities we see on the continent.”
Martin Boreham, Active Underwriter of Syndicate 2454 and Director of Underwriting at ASR comments: “This is an exciting development for ASR, an opportunity to provide further capacity to Africa through Lloyd’s, alongside our pre-existing binder relationships. “Our ambition is to be the go-to Lloyd’s market for Africa, working with other Lloyd’s capacity providers to showcase the opportunities in Africa that we already see for (re)insurers on a daily basis.”
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