One might think that the region that invented insurance would lead the world in mitigating risk and act as a model for others to follow. But almost 4,000 years after Mediterranean merchants first insured their cargo from the risk of piracy, the region suffers from a lack of insurance awareness and coverage across the board. Although information for all of 2008 and even for the third quarter has yet to be released by many insurers, what is available for analysis points to low penetration rates coupled with an increasingly caliginous financial sector. For example, the UAE registers a meager 1.7% penetration rate as a percent of GDP, trailed by Egypt (0.9%) and Saudi Arabia (0.6%), according to Business Monitor International’s (BMI) Q3 reports for the industry. That said, low penetration rates also constitute ample room for growth. With the industry expecting double digit growth (estimates vary between 12% and 15%
