• From these humble beginnings, the oldest reinsurer in the East African region has witnessed exponential growth.
• It is proud to celebrate fifty years of successful existence. On January 28, 1971 the then Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Hon. Mwai Kibaki gave life to an Act of Parliament of 1970 by appointing a Board of Directors for the State Reinsurance Corporation of Kenya with Thomas Okelo Odongo, a former Assistant Minister for Finance as its first Chairman.
Also appointed in the same Gazette Notice No.266 were Messrs. Eliud Mwamunga, Andrew Mwangi Mathai, D.A. Stewart, S. Ngwiri and the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury.
This is how Kenya Reinsurance Corporation as we know it today was born.
After four years, Odongo paved way for the next chairman Francis Thombe Nyamo who took over the helm for six years before being appointed the first indigenous Managing Director in 1981.
Since its inception to date, the Corporation has had a rich and diverse selection of Boards and Managing Directors who have steered the institution to its current state. These have, among others included Prof. S.H. Ominde, A.T. Kaminchia, Peter Kenneth and Andrew Omanga.
Broadly, the Corporation’s mandate during its initial formation was four-fold; increase retention capacity within the country and reduce the need to purchase reinsurance from external reinsurers, regulate the insurance industry (now performed by IRA), contribute towards local expertise in the insurance and reinsurance industry and generate funds for investment in the national economy.
From these humble beginnings, the oldest reinsurer in the East African region has witnessed exponential growth across all business lines and is proud to celebrate fifty years of successful existence. As it embarks on its next phase of growth, the focus will be strengthening and reviewing its business model and business processes to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive environment.
The first risk the Corporation underwrote was a fire in 1971. In the same year, it declared a net premium income of Sh5,915,839 and a gross profit of Sh593,486. This was achieved with a staff complement of eight (8) employees.
In 1973 underwriting of marine and aviation was commenced while motor business was taken up in 1974. International business was taken up three years later in 1977.
From these modest results, the Corporation has grown to achieve in the year 2020, gross premiums of Sh18,535,220,000 and gross profit of Sh3,983,593,000. Total assets now stand at Sh53,236,583,000.It is worth noting that the Corporation has never […]
