Ethiopian insurance companies have collected combined gross premiums of 4.5 billion Ethiopian birr from general insurance, in the 2012/13 fiscal year, Fortune reported citing unaudited aggregated report of the National Bank of Ethiopia.

The amount showed a 17.7 percent growth from the 2011/12 aggregate performance.

The government owned Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, and the 16 private insurance companies has also earned combined net premiums of 2.9 billion birr.

Increased premiums collection and lower claims incurred has helped insurers to achieve an overall claims ratio of 65.5 percent. The premium collected has grown by 700 million birr and claims incurred by 400 million birr, when compared to the previous year's performance.

The Ethiopian insurance sector currently has an aggregate capital of 1.8 billion birr, an increase of 600 million from the previous year.

Source: Fortune