Cyber incidents and market developments are among the major new threats to business in Africa and Middle East. This is contained in the 2016 Allianz Risk Barometer, a report on corporate risks published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), a financial services company with presence in over 70 countries.

According to the report which surveyed over 800 risk managers and insurance experts from more than 40 countries, Macroeconomic developments (44%), Market developments (44%) and changes in legislation and regulation (32%) are the top three leading risks for businesses in Africa and Middle East.

Political risks (war, terrorism and upheaval) rank higher than any other region. The area is the only one to rank power blackouts (10th) in the top 10. These risks are appearing for the first time for Africa and Middle East.

Last year’s Africa and Middle East responses were included as part of Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

“The biggest contraction in global trade since the financial crisis, BRICS and other emerging markets hitting a wall and a subdued knock-on-effect from the drop in commodity prices help

ensure market and macro developments rank highly in this year’s Risk Barometer,” says Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist at trade credit insurer Euler Hermes, a sister company of AGCS.

Chief Executive Officer, Allianz Global, Delphine Maidou, told journalists at a press briefing yesterday in Lagos that the essence of the report is to help their clients make informed decisions.

“Our aim with this report is to inform our clients on the types of risks to envisage. This helps the businesses to run smoothly because with the report, one knows what are the likely expectations in terms of business risks as it can be quite expensive if risk management is not at par,” she said.

Continuing, Maidou said that not all risks can be covered hence there is the need to know the what-ifs and what-if-nots. Citing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America, she said that prior to the incident there was no terrorism insurance but now there is, because of the need to insure against terrorism related activities.

The top ten business risk for the year 2016 identified in the AGCS report are Macroeconomic developments, Market developments, Changes in legislation, Natural catastrophes and Business interruptions; Cyber crimes, Political risks, fire explosions, Theft, fraud & corruption and power blackouts.

•Photo shows Delphine Maidou, CEO Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty of Africa.

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