The South African regulatory body for the insurance sector, the FSB, has granted SCOR SE a licence to conduct Life and Non-Life reinsurance business. The Group’s representative office in Johannesburg has thus become a fully-fledged composite subsidiary of SCOR SE, called SCOR Africa Limited. This subsidiary’s activities will cover Africa’s English and Portuguese speaking markets as well as Mauritius. 

 

Terry Ray has been appointed CEO of SCOR Africa, and Mohamed Motala will be the Managing Director for Non-Life business. The announcement of the Managing Director for Life business is expected to follow soon. Terry Ray previously worked at Mercantile & General before spending 17 years as Managing Director of the Benfield group’s South African entity. Mohamed Motala was previously a Reinsurance Manager at ABSA Insurance Company Limited and a Client Manager at Swiss Re Africa.

 

Through its close proximity to the Group’s Life and Non-Life clients, the South African subsidiary will enable SCOR to provide a more efficient range of services, in line with its policy of establishing a presence in local markets. The Life and Non-Life insurance market in South Africa has grown rapidly over the past few years and has one of the most dynamic penetration rates in the world. This increase in Life and Non-Life activity is notably due to South Africa’s readmission to the global economy, to the expansion of the middle class and to significant spending on infrastructure. 

 

Denis Kessler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SCOR, comments: “The opening of this subsidiary will enable SCOR to reinforce the Group’s presence in South Africa and expand its regional portfolio, particularly with regard to innovative approaches to Life reinsurance products and in terms of sophisticated Non-Life Specialty treaties in the energy, building and construction and agricultural sectors”.