Africa Specialty Risks Group appoints head of political violence & terrorism underwriting

Africa Specialty Risks (ASR), the Pan-African focused reinsurance group, has launched its war, political violence and terrorism (PVT) capacity and appointed a head of political violence and terrorism underwriting.

Zouheb Azam’s appointment comes after the recent arrival of the group’s first actuarial hire, Peter Way, who joined earlier this month.

ASR said it will provide its clients with a bespoke offer which caters to the specific requirements and challenges of PVT risks in Africa, covering a broad range of perils and extensions.

Zouheb brings almost 12 years’ experience across political violence and terrorism (PVT) risk management solutions. This includes underwriting role at AXA XL and broking responsibility in the Global Risk Management divisions at Willis Towers Watson and Gras Savoye in Paris, where Zouheb placed a global book of PVT and PRI risks into the London reinsurance market.

Mikir Shah, CEO of ASR, commented: “ASR continues to move from strength to strength and we’re delighted that Zouheb will be joining to launch a new line of business. Zouheb’s extensive experience in the PVT markets and his work across broking and risk analysis further develops our reinsurance offering to clients across Africa.”

Zouheb Azam commented: “Joining ASR is an exciting next step in my career, and I look forward to working alongside the rest of the team to establish and grow the PVT division from its outset. Insuring against this type of risk is as important now as it ever has been, and the events of the past twelve months have reinforced the need for comprehensive solutions that meet customer needs.”

ASR was launched by Helios Investment Partners (Helios) in partnership with Mikir Shah, former CEO of AXA Africa Specialty Risks and Bryan Howett, former CEO of Old Mutual’s pan-African reinsurance operations. The group announced in February that it had secured an additional multi-year binder capacity of up to $25 million per risk through a partnership with GIC of India and annual capacity from Peak Re.

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.