Discours de Mahen Seeruttun pour les deux ans d’Africa Specialty Risks

Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good evening to all of you.I am delighted to be here with you today to mark and celebrate your second anniversary here in Mauritius serving Mauritius and Africa well.

It has been two years since the launch of Africa Specialty Risks as a fully capitalised and licensed reinsurance entity in Mauritius, designed to meet the needs of the African continent.

The achievements shared by Mikir Shah this evening unquestionably commend the strategic decision to expand business to this part of the world.

Two years is such a short time in the business world to rejoice on successes.

So, you have every reason to be proud and celebrate your achievements realised over such a little time.

The Reinsurer and the Insurance Manager Licence granted by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius has been instrumental to your vision and is greatly benefiting Mauritius and the Region.

You were certainly right in identifying Africa’s long-term development prospects.

ASR has well positioned its offerings in this land of opportunities.

I am glad to note that till date ASR has helped to de-risk US $ 11.4 billion of investments into Africa and has written business in 47 countries, proving the strong potential for Mauritius as a reinsurance hub for the continent.

And the choice of Mauritius as a well-established hub for financial services and investments in Africa is the most logical destination to serve your purpose.

Our Government is keenly promoting the Mauritius International Financial Centre as a Reinsurance Hub as we believe that we have all the ingredients for success.
(i) We have an established insurer presence in Africa.

(ii) We offer a safe, sound and trusted jurisdiction, with a robust legal framework.

(iii) Our operating environment is stable, supported by policy certainty and regulatory safeguards.

(iv) We are today recognised for our commitments to keep improving on Ease of Doing business.

(v) Mauritius is also very well connected in the region and among its various memberships to regional groupings, we are part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) set up to boost intra-Africa trade and investment.

For these reasons and so many more, insurers and reinsurers are progressively developing their Africa strategy from Mauritius to better service the region’s requirements.

As Africa continues to urbanise, as Africa’s middle class keeps growing to more than one billion consumers, as Africa keeps consuming and producing more, correspondingly, more lives, wealth and assets will need protection.

There is enormous potential for the reinsurance industry to pursue meaningful work in narrowing the region’s growing protection gap.
Mauritius is well positioned to continue to play a decisive and impactful role.

Investments from Mauritius into Africa represents 9% of overall foreign investment into the Continent.

We represent a strong regional development partner and leaving no stone unturned in our engagement of Serving Africa Well.
Ladies and Gentlemen
We see Mauritius rising as an important specialty insurance hub for Africa with global companies set up within our IFC space offering capabilities in newer lines of risk, such as cyber risk.

As we continue to develop our insurance ecosystem, it is our wish and aspiration that Mauritius continues to be the launchpad for businesses such as ASR to create meaningful solutions for the region.

I am confident that ASR in Mauritius can significantly contribute to our endeavours in making our IFC take on a bigger role as a reinsurance hub.
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am very pleased to see that our compatriots are being increasingly invited to join the ASR operations.

We are thankful for the employment and training opportunities to our people.

I am aware that ASR places much emphasis on capacity building and in the area in which you operate and I would like to see more sharing of knowledge and experience to develop the skills of our people.

We have a dedicated facility under the aegis of my Ministry which looks at training and I hope to see collaboration develop in this area.
Her Excellency Mrs Charlotte Pierre,
I take this evening’s opportunity to express the gratitude of Government for the support and committed efforts of the British High Commission in Mauritius to facilitate the setting up of UK-based companies in Mauritius.

UK is a mature centre for international insurance and reinsurance business.
Mauritius has so much to learn from UK-established businesses.

I would like to thank Her Excellency Charlotte Pierre for the invaluable support and facilitation provided by the British High Commission, particularly the Department for Business and Trade, for close collaboration with my Ministry.

We are thankful for your commitment to Mauritius and to Africa.
I would also wish to mention the UK-Mauritius Strategic Trade Partnership signed last week.

This agreement will help consolidate the strong trade partnership ties between our two countries boosting priority areas including financial services.

The commitment of the UK Government to champion trade policies and programmes which advance our economic ambitions for the region is so relevant to our presence this evening.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let us all look forward to shaping the future and making the vibrant African region more securely positioned for growth.

Our Government looks forward to even stronger collaboration with ASR as partners in shaping a better African Region.

I wish to express my sincere congratulations to the leadership of ASR, to its team, to its clients and associates.
Mr Mikir Shah, thank you for the privilege of your presence in Mauritius.

Thank you for believing in Mauritius and our People.

Let us take the opportunity of this anniversary year to look ahead with hope and confidence and reflect on the peaks which are yet to be ascended.

Let this be a time to look forward to decades of growing opportunity.

I have every confidence that AFRICA SPECIALTY RISKS will go from strength to strength rising above any challenge by remaining as adaptive and relevant as ever to serve the demands of a dynamic industry and region.

With these words, I thank you for your attention.