The opening of Africa Specialty Risks’ Sandton office and the launch of Syndicate 2454 was not just another corporate ribbon-cutting moment.  

It marks a strategic milestone in the African (re)insurance landscape, one that signals intent, maturity, and most importantly, an unwavering commitment to development.

I recently sat down with Amit Khilosia, Chief Distribution Officer, and Mikir Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Africa Specialty Risks (ASR), on the occasion of inaugurating their new Sandton office. The aim was to better understand ASR’s origins, their growth trajectory, their presence in South Africa, and the role they see this market playing in their broader continental strategy.

A business born from a love for Africa - ASR launched in 2020, writing its first policy on 16 February 2021. From the outset, the ambition was clear: build an insurance, and reinsurance business that truly understands Africa, hires African talent, and deploys capacity to enable development.

“We’re not here to copy what works elsewhere and paste it onto Africa,” Mikir explained. “Africa’s in our name, it’s our main market..”

Most of ASR’s team is either African or has spent decades working alongside African businesses. This matters. It explains why the company speaks the language of political risk, terrorism, contract frustration, trade credit, cyber, parametrics, and captives with such fluency.

But storytelling alone doesn’t build credibility. Numbers do. And here again, ASR delivers.

South Africa: A cornerstone market, long before brick-and-mortar - Despite only opening their physical desk in Sandton now, ASR is already deeply embedded in the South African market. Since 2021, they have de-risked approximately USD 10 billion for South African corporates. This makes South Africa one of their biggest revenue markets to date, even in the absence of a dedicated, local office.

Kenya may be vibrant, Nigeria may be huge, but South Africa, it’s pragmatic, investor-ready, bank-aligned and AA-rating–conscious. It is a jurisdiction that demands security of paper, certainty of claims payments, underwriting integrity, and partnerships that can weather shocks.

With a double-A international credit rating, the Africa Specialty Risk Syndicate, now seated in Sandton, becomes the first Lloyd’s Syndicate stamp underwritten directly by African underwriters sitting in Africa, for Africa, in the South African market.

This is unprecedented, and significant - It means that conversations between brokers, clients, banks, investors, and (re)insurers no longer needs to route via London to reference Lloyd’s credibility. The stamp is now here. In Sandton. Next to the official Lloyd’s Africa offices. Part of the ecosystem.

And that ecosystem matters, beyond South Africa itself, becoming a Southern Africa hub for the region and access to global paper from inside Africa. Once fully operational, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and other regional markets will gain easier access to this desk than they would to traditional international desks, thanks to physical proximity, shared time zones, regulatory alignment, local talent, and relationships already built in neighbouring markets.

The Lloyd’s South Africa Syndicate won’t be a standalone island. It’s designed to be a regional hub, granting brokers from surrounding markets access to global underwriting capacity.

Mikir emphasised that every line of business ASR intends to write will have a dedicated South African underwriter seated in Sandton. They have already hired for construction, captive management, and are actively recruiting across specialty lines.