The second CEOs forum had been conducted in Turkey, Marriott hotel, Istanbul between 28th of September and 5th of October 2021. Accordingly, the “Istanbul –Pact” has been reached amongst the Ethio-Re and the cedant insurers from the Ethiopian Market in respect of major industry issues and to work cooperatively for the growth and development of the insurance industry in Ethiopia. The second annual forum was organized by Ethio-Re and as part of its strategic effort to create an unparalleled platform among players in the Ethiopian insurance industry, identify and foster tasks and initiatives that can be done jointly to transform the industry. Hence, Ethio-Re envisages preparing a discussion forum with the decisive target groups, especially CEOs of the ceding companies in Ethiopia, to create mutual understanding on topical industry issues, challenges, and hurdles that have hampered the development of the sector or masked the players from benefiting out of the untapped potential of the insurance business in the country.
Besides that, it has created a unique platform to discourse the strategic plan of Ethio-Re (Vision 2030) and what supports the company needs from the industry to realize its new strategic plan. The forum was also organized as per the recommendations made on the newly formulated strategic plan and communication policy recommended with stakeholders. The specific time, at the beginning of the implementation period of the strategic plan, was selected to create awareness for the insurance industry key players and enable the CEOs to understand the challenges and prospects of Ethio-re and seek their support transparently from the beginning. It was also affirmed that the raison d’être of these successive forums Ethio-Re conducted so far and in the future would provide an impartial platform for all stakeholders; including NBE, government authorities, Insurance companies as represented by their CEOs, and their association (AEI), Finance Managers, Operations Managers and Reinsurance Department Managers), and many others who have a stake in the fate of the development of the insurance and reinsurance industry, and hence Ethio-Re will continue to champion such efforts in the future.The second CEOs Forum at Istanbul has also covered training on the following topics to build the capacity of the participants: – IFRS 17 requirements for insurance companies; – Cyber security; – Risk survey and loss adjustments; – Lessons and Experiences of Insurance industries- practices of other markets ; – Discussion on topmost issues affecting Ethiopian insurance industry; and – Discussion on strategic issues moving Ethio-Re (Vision 2030) formulated by international consultants Deloitte international. The training was followed by a discussion session wherein the strategic plan( Vision 2030) of Ethio-Re, all aspects of Ethio-Re’s performance, manners of strengthening business relationships between the industry and Ethio-Re had been discussed in detail. And as per the feedbacks gathered, it was concluded that the forum has met its revered objectives and has cremated an encouraging platform for creating business bondage between the CEO’s of the insurance industry, which definitely will pave the way for future tasks, programs, and initiatives that necessitate combined efforts of all players and Ethio-Re has also assured its backing for creating similar forums permanently every year.