According to the 2016 Allianz Risk Barometer, which surveyed over 800 risk managers and insurance experts from more than 40 countries, the top three leading risks for businesses in Africa and the Middle East are macroeconomic developments (44%), market developments (44%) and changes in legislation and regulation (32%).
More than a third of surveyed responses (34%) cited market developments such as intensified competition or market volatility/stagnation as one of the three most important business risks in 2016. Globally Business interruption (BI) remains the top risk for the fourth year in succession, with cyber-attacks, geo-political instability and technology failure new potential drivers of BI losses.
Chris Fisher Hirs, AGCS CEO, says the corporate risk landscape is changing as many industrial sectors undergo a fundamental transformation. He said:
"New technologies, increasing digitalisation and the 'Internet of Things' are changing customer behaviour, industrial operations and business models, bringing a wealth of opportunities, but also raising awareness of the need for an enterprise-wide response to new challenges. As insurers we need to work together with our corporate clients to help them to address these new realities in a comprehensive manner."
Another area of increasing concern was that of cyber incidents, including cyber-crime or data breaches, as well as technical IT failures. Cyber incidents gained 11 percentage points year-on-year to move from fifth position (fifth in Africa and Middle East) into the top three risks for the first time (28% of responses).
Axel Theis, a member of the Board of Management with Allianz SE, says businesses need to prepare for a wider range of disruptive forces in 2016 and beyond, saying that the increasing impacts of globalisation, digitalisation and technological innovation pose fundamental challenges.
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