Africa-Press – Kenya. Political violence is emerging as a major operational challenged for firms in Kenya and with insurers saying 2026 is likely see a surge in the uptake of political violence and terrorism (PVT) cover.The sector is already absorbing heavy losses linked to last year’s widespread unrest, with CIC Group this week unveiling a Sh134 million payout to supermarket chain Naivas.
This is the latest in a series of high-cost claims caused by riots and vandalism and marks the second highest payout to Kenyas largest retailer.
CIC group says, in the past two years it has paid over Sh300 million in claims to Naivas over the protests that led to destruction of property.
This payout to the one retailer, in two years, nearly matches the amount the insurer paid out, having settled Sh400 million in political violence–related claims in 2024 alone.
The insurers group managing director for general insurance Fred Ruoro said vulnerable Kenyan businesses have become to protests, riots and politically–fuelled destruction.
“With political unrest now one of the biggest threats to business continuity globally and locally, more companies are realising they are exposed. We expect a significant uptake in political violence and terrorism cover going forward,” said Ruoro.
In the latest payout the insurer announced a Sh134 million payout to retailer Naivas for losses incurred during last year’s political unrest, settling all political violence–related claims from last year’s protests, which affected banks, retail outlets and offices across the country.
The insurer expects the scale of these losses to jolt more firms into purchasing specialised cover.
“We had banks vandalised, offices destroyed, motor vehicles burned, and multiple retail branches affected countrywide. This payout is less than 50 per cent of the total claims from last year’s unrest,” Ruoro said.
The industry’s projections are reinforced by global risk assessments. The latest Allianz Commercial Risk Barometer lists political violence among the top 10 threats to global businesses for the third consecutive year, with more than half of surveyed companies citing civil unrest as their primary concern.
Since 2017, the world has recorded more than 800 major anti-government protests, and over 160 significant unrest events have already taken place in 2024.
A separate security report from G4S warns that political instability and civil disorder will be among the defining business risks through 2026.
Naivas has been among the hardest hit, receiving Sh170 million last year and another Sh134 million this year, bringing its two-year total to Sh300 million.
In the 12 years it has been insured by CIC, the retailer has received Sh392 million in claims settlements.
“So over two years CIC has settled claims for Sh300 million, and this is just for Naivas, because we had many other customers who were affected countrywide,” said CIC Group MD Patrick Nyaga.
“The reality is as a business, as you do your business, a lot of things happen that are unexpected. On occasions we do have floods, on occasions we do have earthquakes, we do have fire, and unfortunately in the past two years we have had protests which have turned to losses for our customers.”
Naivas CEO Andreas von Paleske said the retailer will continues to work with insurance partners to cover a whole array of risks that they face not just the severe events.
