Morocco’s Societe Centrale de Reassurance opens Cairo representative office

Morocco-based Societe Centrale de Reassurance (SCR) has opened a representative office in Egypt, it said on Thursday.

The move by the Moroccan reinsurer comes as part of its transformation plan to target markets with strong potential, the company said in earlier statement in late October.

SCR’s representative office in Cairo will be a stepping stone to upcoming expansions in the Egyptian and East African markets, director general Youssef Fassi Fihri told Amwal Al Ghad.

“Egypt has a growing and significant insurance market that is able to overcome political and economic difficulties,” Fihri said on the sidelines of an insurance conference in Sharm El-Sheikh city.

Fihri also said Gomaa Zaki had been appointed as the director of SCR’s new office in Cairo.

“SCR currently owns 4 percent of the reinsurance market share in Egypt. We are seeking to have a bigger share in the coming period.” Fihri said.

Based in Casablanca, SCR was founded in 1960, as a result of the Kingdom of Morocco’s plan to develop reinsurance activities in its territory. It offers reinsurance products covering various risks, such as IARD, life, aviation, and marine. It also provides professional services to the insurance market.

SCR recently inaugurated representative offices in West Africa in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and in East Africa in Kigali, Rwanda.

Fitch Ratings assigned SCR a financial strength (IFS) rating of ‘AAA(mar)’ with a stable outlook. Specialist insurance ratings agency A.M. Best also affirmed its financial strength rating on the Moroccan reinsurer at B++ (Good).