At a glance
- The affirmation follows a 2025 non-life combined ratio of 110.6% and rests on four assessments: balance-sheet strength the agency calls very strong, adequate operating performance, a neutral business profile and weak enterprise risk management.
- Private equity and real estate together account for roughly one-third of Kenya Re's investment portfolio, and 90% of its invested assets sit in Kenya, according to AM Best.
- For allocators holding reinsurance credit risk, AM Best's four-part assessment supports three due-diligence questions.
AM Best affirmed Kenya Reinsurance Corporation's B (Fair) financial strength rating and bb+ long-term issuer credit rating on Oct. 20, with a stable outlook on both. The affirmation follows a 2025 non-life combined ratio of 110.6% and rests on four assessments: balance-sheet strength the agency calls very strong, adequate operating performance, a neutral business profile and weak enterprise risk management.
Private equity and real estate together account for roughly one-third of Kenya Re's investment portfolio, and 90% of its invested assets sit in Kenya, according to AM Best. The illiquid holdings are a key driver of capital consumption, even though risk-adjusted capitalisation — measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio — was at the strongest level at year-end 2025. AM Best also cites elevated economic, political and financial system risk in the company's core markets and treats the Kenya concentration as a balance-sheet consideration in its own right.
For allocators holding reinsurance credit risk, AM Best's four-part assessment supports three due-diligence questions. Those questions are how much of the portfolio is private equity and real estate, how much sits in one jurisdiction, and how far earnings depend on investment income rather than underwriting. The note quantifies the first two.
AM Best says the non-life portfolio has posted technical profits in most years since corrective actions began in 2020, but 2025 deteriorated partly on receivable impairments. Earnings remain driven by investment income, reflecting what the agency calls a favourable, albeit declining, interest-rate environment in Kenya. Return on equity has exceeded Kenyan inflation moderately over the past five years, per the note.
Kenya Re is a composite reinsurer whose book AM Best describes as relatively well diversified by line across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In Kenya it benefits from compulsory cessions from domestic insurers, which the agency calls privileged market access. Premium arriving by cession follows Kenyan regulation rather than price competition; the release does not give the percentage of premium those cessions represent.
AM Best records "deficiencies in the company's governance, illustrated by several instances of suspension or dismissal of its senior executives over the past decade," and assesses risk-management capabilities as weak relative to the risk profile.
Reported by the Insurance-Linked & Specialty desk from AM Best News. Published . Corrections