BMI's Executive Summary for the Oman Insurance Report

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This report differs from its predecessors in that it includes BMI's Insurance Business Environment Rating (IBER). The rating brings together a number of pieces of relevant quantitative data, together with BMI's Country Risk Rating (CRR). It is now much easier to consider the business environment for the insurance sector in any one country relative to the business environment for other industries in that country that are surveyed by BMI, and the business environment for the insurance sector in other countries.

Oman's IBER is 48.0. This is, by regional standards, a middling score. By the standards of other parts of the world (and, in particular, the Asia Pacific) this score is quite low. Although there are many positive features of the Oman insurance market (including high growth rates in both segments and a regulatory environment which is both good and improving) our overall conclusion would be that the excitement about the market exceeds the reality.

The fundamental problem is that the market is, and will remain, small in absolute terms. This is compounded by the structure of the market. To the credit of the Omani authorities, there are no barriers to entry by foreign firms. Nevertheless, local groups, of which Dhofar Insurance and Oman United are the largest, account for about four-fifths of both segments. To make matters worse, particular foreign groups (of which New India Assurance and Life Insurance Company (also of India) are the most obvious examples) have targeted particular expatriate groups in Oman, further reducing the overall market opportunity.

The local groups are in something of a quandary. To expand substantially in absolute terms (i.e. as opposed to percentage terms) they need to look for opportunities outside Oman. Indeed, Oman United has recently announced that it is considering a joint venture in Qatar. However, none of the Omani companies are large by anything other than local standards – and may be less well placed to exploit economies of scale than the competition that they meet in foreign markets.

Contents of the Oman Insurance Report

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Chapter 1 - The Sector At A Glance

Table: Oman Insurance Sector Overview (In Millions Of Currency Specified)

Key Features Of This Report & Likely Future Changes

Chapter 2 - Latest News

Recent Developments

Chapter 3 - Evolution Since The Mid-1990s

Table: Evolution Of The Oman Insurance Sector (In Millions Of Currency Specified)

Evolution

Chapter 4 - Projections And Forecasts

Table: BMI Projections For Oman Insurance Sector (In Millions Of Currency Specified)

Projections And Drivers Of Growth

Table: Oman Drivers Of Growth

Chapter 5 - Macroeconomic Outlook

Table: Oman Macroeconomic Data And Forecasts

Chapter 6 - Country Update

Political Risk - Oasis Of Stability

Economic Risk Energy Exports To The Fore

Business Environment Promoting FDI

Chapter 7 - Analysis Of Competitive Conditions

Table: Non-life Segment Rankings Of Markets In Middle East

Table: Presence Of Cross-border Insurers Non-life

Table: Selected Local Non-life Insurers

Country Overview Oman - Life Segment

Table: Life Segment Rankings of Markets

Table: Presence Of Cross-border Insurers Life

Table: Selected Local Life Insurers

Table: Regional Context - Premiums

Table: Regional Context Total Premiums

Chapter 8 - Methodology And Objectives

Introduction

Background

Forecasts

Chapter 9 - Appendix

Table: Latest Estimates / Actual Figures For 2005

Table: Latest Estimates For 2010

Table: Latest Estimates For 2005-2010

Competitive Landscape for The Middle East and Africa Insurance
    Reports: Sample of Companies Ranked

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A cross-border overview of key players and their insurance market share across the Middle East and Africa. Tables and graphs show country presence of multinationals across the region. Comparative company analyses and rankings by premium income (life and non-life). Company SWOTS for leading life and non-life insurers, covering network of offices, presence of foreign stakeholders, strategic relationships, joint ventures; portfolio of clients; diversity of product range; profit growth, investment strategy and risk exposure.

Network of Insurance Sources

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BMI's Middle Eastern and African Insurance Reports are based on an extensive network of multilateral organisations, government departments, insurance industry associations, chambers of commerce and company reports. Information sources include:

Read about our other Insurance Reports