Insurance sector safe and sound - Written premiums at NamibRe have grown by nearly 60 percent from 2007 to 2009, Deputy Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said yesterday. Speaking at the tenth anniversary celebrations of the national re-insurer, Schlettwein said NamibRe has shown "significant and steady growth in most of its portfolios".

Gross written premiums for the period have grown from just over N$51 million to over N$81 million, while nett written premiums rose from N$39,5 million to N$63,5 million.

Schlettwein said the financial sector in Namibia has grown robustly, including the insurance industry. Currently there are over 38 investment managers, 347 micro-lenders, 32 short and long-term insurers and ten unit trust companies in the country.

"For a population size such as ours this is quite significant," he said.

Schlettwein said total assets under management in Namibia amount to N$86,1 billion, while money invested in pension funds total N$64 billion.

Funds managed by long-term-insurance stand at N$25 billion, while N$2,3 billion is tied up in the short-term insurance industry. An amount of N$25 billion is invested in unit trusts.

Schlettwein said it is important that the private sector invest in the Namibian economy and become part of the development agenda.

"We (Government) observe that the large funds managed by the private financial intermediaries are placed within the Common Monetary Area, but with less focus on the Namibian capital market," he said.

Schlettwein said the new Regulation 15 of the long-term and short-term insurance industry will set minimum requirements for investments in Namibian unlisted entities.

The Namibian/06/10/2011