KAMPALA, 22 April, 2010 –In a deal valued at UGX 10 billion (US$4.8 million), UAP will offer a new insurance product that will protect the property of their policy holders against damage caused by a number of politically-motivated events up to UGX 10 billion. The insurance deal is backed by the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), which provides a blanket reinsurance treaty specifically for insurance companies in markets, like Uganda, which lack the capacity to offer this type of insurance product. The deal was announced at a joint press conference with Mathew Koech, Managing Director of UAP Uganda and Stewart Kinloch, Acting Chief Executive Officer of ATI along with Allan Mafabi, ATI’s Underwriter in Uganda, who initiated the deal.
The insurance product is expected to protect customers, particularly small and medium sized companies whose property or business interests may be harmed by politically-motivated violence. Although Uganda has not seen the level of political violence experienced in Kenya after their 2007 elections, UAP Uganda is taking preventative measures to protect their customers in the lead up to the 2011 national elections. Specifically the insurer will offer insurance protection against these risks:
Political Violence, Terrorism & Sabotage insurance cover was first introduced in Kenya, in September 2008, after a post-election assessment revealed a gap in the market, where Kshs billions worth of reported damage was uninsured. The local insurance industry’s inability to underwrite this type of risk, led ATI to provide reinsurance to local insurers with the backing of partners such as Africa Re, the PTA Reinsurance Company (Zep Re) and Lloyd’s of London. Local insurance companies were then able to add this protection to their customers’ existing policies.
“This product has made a difference to a lot of people in East Africa. From the person whose car can now be protected if it gets caught in a political street protest to the local business owner, who can now claim for any business loss suffered as a result of politically-motivated violence. These are damages that left millions of people devastated before this product became available in 2008”, notes Mr. Kinloch, ATI’s Acting Chief Executive.
The introduction of Political Violence, Terrorism & Sabotage insurance cover by ATI offers four major benefits to banks, insurers and their customers:
In 2008, UAP Kenya became the first insurer to offer insurance against political violence, terrorism and sabotage following the post-election violence in Kenya. Since then, Jubilee and APA have also signed onto ATI’s reinsurance treaty. To date, ATI has provided $1billion worth of reinsurance support to Kenyan-based insurers.
