Amana Takaful hosts Global Takaful leaders meet in Colombo

Announces Colombo declaration as road map in moving forward

Amana Takaful, the pioneer and flag bearer of the Takaful way on insurance in Sri Lanka, recently hosted Global Takaful leaders for a two-day International Conference in Colombo.

The meeting is held annually and brings together Takaful and Re-Takaful operators from many countries for the purpose of networking and deliberation in shaping global thinking and practice of Takaful.

This year’s event saw, for the first time, the convergence of the three main bodies of Takaful in the world, namely the Federation of Islamic Insurance and Takaful Companies (FOIITC), Global Takaful Group (GTG) and International Cooperative and Mutual Insurers Federation (ICMIF).

A highlight of the event was the announcement of a joint declaration by the three organisations to join efforts and resources towards the promotion of Takaful and Mutuality worldwide.   

The conference, themed ‘Returning to Our Roots; Realising Our Potential,’ was held on the 22 and 23 November. The conference sought to explore the current practices in the Takaful industry and its conformity with the tenets on which Takaful is based on, as well as discuss possible areas of potential in global and regional markets for both Life and non-Life Takaful products.

This year’s technical sessions revolved around topics such as ‘Critical Issues Facing the Takaful Industry,’ ‘Value Based Approach in Marketing and Branding of Takaful,’ ‘Building Trust in the People Served’ and ‘Creating Access to the Low Income Population’. A special session was also held on the standard on solvency requirements for Takaful undertakings.

The conference was attended by many eminent speakers from the international Takaful circles consisting of Shari’ah council members as well as Managing Directors and CEO of Takaful and Re-Takaful companies.

Takaful and Re-Takaful operators as well as regulators and support services from more than 20 countries were in attendance including Malaysia, United Kingdom, Singapore, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Qatar, Pakistan, Bahrain, Tunisia and Palestine.

At the conclusion of the event the three organisations announced a declaration termed ‘Colombo Declaration,’ meant to combine resources in a concerted an effort to develop Takaful globally.

The scope of the declaration covers the building on awareness of Takaful, reaching underserved markets and improving collaboration and cooperation between Takaful and Re-Takaful operators to represent Takaful to all stakeholders and supervisory bodies and to strengthen and reinforce mutual value that lie at the heart of Takaful.

The international event was preceded by a field visit organised by Amana Takaful to expose delegates to a Micro-Takaful project operated together with Muslim Aid, Sri Lanka. The project was an attempt to share learning on the implementation of Micro-Takaful to uplift the lives of the low income populace through prudent Life and Health protection solutions.

A technical session was dedicated towards the importance of Micro-Takaful where business viability, product design and delivery were some of the key areas addressed.

Spurred by the growth of the Islamic finance industry globally, the Takaful industry (Islamic insurance) has seen tremendous growth in the last few years. The Takaful industry, as estimated by Ernst and Young in their 2011 Global report on Takaful highlight that the Takaful market saw contributions amounting to US$ 6.9 b, recording a growth of 31% in 2009. They estimate that this growth has been sustained in the 2010 and estimate Takaful contributions to surpass US$ 11.9 b in 2011.

The potential of Takaful is evident from the growth of Takaful stemming from Islamic nations in the GCC, Far East and Africa’s as well as Europe and with the entry of traditional insurers into Takaful and Re-Takaful operations.

The conference is part of a series of annual events organised by the ICMIF (International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation), in collaboration with the FOIITC (Federation of Islamic Insurance and Takaful Companies) and GTG (Global Takaful Group). The local hosts are Amana Takaful PLC, Sri Lanka's flag bearer of Takaful.