Kenya Re plans a Sharia-compliant subsidiary in Egypt

Kenya Re seeks to establish a Shariah-compliant subsidiary in Egypt after converting into capital $52.5 million from its cash reserves through issuance of bonus shares.

Re-takaful is the Islamic alternative to conventional reinsurance and operates on Sharia principles.

The State-controlled reinsurer says last year’s decision to issue an additional 2.099 billion bonus shares saw its capital base quadruple from Ksh1.75 billion ($17.5 million) to Ksh6.99 billion ($69.9 million).

Kenya Re’s new capital base meets the revised Egyptian insurance law that was enforced last year, raising minimum capital base for reinsurers from Ksh391.98 million (E£60 million, $3.9 million) to Ksh6.49 billion (E£1bn, $64.9 million).