Home Insurance Insuring DR Congo Projects Against Political Violence
Author: Charles Wachira | Photos: Shutterstock
Soaring costs of political violence insurance in the DRC reveal a broader capacity crisis for African mining.
This article appears in the November issue of Global Finance Magazine.
Political violence insurance premiums for some mining risks in the Democratic Republic of Congo jumped as much as tenfold last year, turning insurance from a routine operating cost into a material consideration for companies exposed to the country’s deteriorating security environment.
Political violence premiums “spiked five to ten times” as a result of the upsurge, which included conflict with the M23 rebels in the east as well as anti-government protests in the capital, said Valéry Safarian, managing partner at Triangle Partners and an adviser to the board of SFA Congo, the republic’s second-largest insurer.
The financial impact was visible at SFA. Its political violence portfolio doubled to $6 million in 2025 while overall turnover rose from $73 million in 2024 to more than $81 million, Reuters reported in February. Mining companies including CMOC Group, Glencore, Eurasian Resources, and Chemaf were among those affected.
The DRC episode does not mean insurance prices are rising across Africa.
Marsh’s second-quarter Global Insurance Market Index shows the opposite trend for much of the commercial market. Rates across the insurance broker’s India, Middle East, and Africa region fell 16%, the largest regional decline among its indices. Property rates fell 19% while political violence rates stabilized as additional markets supplied capacity.
The figures expose an important split in the African investment risk market: Capacity is plentiful, driving down prices in many conventional insurance lines, while specialist risks can still experience abrupt movements in premiums, limits, and deductibles.
For Lesley Ndlovu, CEO of AfrexInsure, the distinction is fundamental.
“The issue is not simply rising premiums,” he said. For major African projects, the more important questions are whether investors can secure sufficient limits, appropriate deductibles, and the coverage required for the project’s value and tenor.
The capacity equation can have consequences well beyond the premium itself. Where required, insurance cannot be obtained, Ndlovu said. Sponsors may have to retain more risk or provide additional capital while lenders can impose tighter conditions.
“The tipping point is when insurance terms begin to change the financing case for the project,” he said.
For Safarian, the DRC experience demonstrates why there is no single premium threshold that determines whether an investment remains viable. The calculation depends on expected returns, financial resilience, and critically, how much of the underlying exposure can be transferred to insurers and reinsurers. “Capacity can matter more than price.”
An investor may accept a higher premium if adequate protection is available. The more difficult situations arise when limits are reduced, deductibles rise, or exclusions leave risks that investors cannot comfortably retain.
“The tipping point comes when that combination makes the expected return unattractive or when available coverage no longer meets lenders’ requirements,” Safarian said. “At that stage, insurance constraints can become financing constraints.”
The DRC market shows how rapidly the equation can change.
Political violence premiu…