A surge in aviation insurance rates and property values have enabled the state-owned Ethiopian Insurance Corporation (EIC) to control more than half of the insurance market share, helping it regain the status it had lost for over a decade. The latest performance marks a huge leap from its lowest-ever market share of 38pc registered three years ago - later increased by 10 percentage points last fiscal year.

The Corporation has recorded a premium of 5.5 billion Br from both life and non-life insurance policies in the last nine months, portraying a one billion Birr increase compared to the same period last year. It could be taken as a remarkable achievement surpassing the entire private insurance industry mobilised by 300 million Br. However, the 17 private insurance firms have registered a 16.1pc increase in their premium, but nine percentage points lower than the growth recorded by EIC.

Even if both [private insurers and EIC] grow at the same rate, the Corporation was required to put more efforts into having a high premium rate in the industry, according to Mengistu Meharu, deputy chief executive officer of the EIC.

"What we`ve achieved is outstanding, and it's tough to make further gains in market share,” Mengistu told Fortune.

The surge in the amount of premium collected come from Ethiopian Airlines. The two accidents involving the Boeing 737 Max planes two years ago have increased the premium for aeroplanes, according to industry sources.

The galloping inflationary pressure in the economy, pushing property value upward, has also played a much larger role in helping the insurance industry gain ground.

Awash Insurance Company (AIC) leads the pack among its peers, collecting a premium of 828.1 million Br from general and life insurance, although the latter contributed one-eighth. It controls 6.7pc and 19.1pc of the general and life insurance markets, respectively. The latest in the bloc, Zemen Insurance, has just 0.1pc of the market share. United Insurance Company (UNIC) follows Awash, with a written premium of half a billion Birr from general lines of business, accounting for 4.7pc of the industry aggregate.

Even though UNIC`s premium rose by almost 17pc, its market share exhibited a one percentage point decline.

Meseret Bezabeh, chief executive officer (CEO) of UNIC, blames unfair competition in the market, making the state-owned insurer bigger and holding private firms back from increasing their share.

“While private insurance firms, including us, are on our own, EIC enjoys preferential treatment," she told Fortune.