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The Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Trade Insurance Agency, George Otieno, has said ATI is experiencing increasing demand for political risk insurance in Africa as investors face the slump in global commodity prices as well as Kenya’s presidential elections next year.

Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, witnessed one of the worst sectarian crises in its history in the aftermath of the 2007 presidential elections. The incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, narrowly defeated opposition challenger, Raila Odinga, sparking an ethnic violence that left over 1,400 people dead and 600,000 displaced from their homes.

“We have had a lot of requests,” Otieno told Bloomberg on Wednesday. “Most people don’t want to be caught unawares after what happened during the 2007 election.”

Otieno also said the slump in commodity prices – including oil, gold, steel, etc – have caused an increasing demand for ATI’s services including insurance protection from political or terrorist events and non-payment of suppliers by public entities. The ATI CEO said strong demand from member countries could boost the ATI’s gross premiums by 30 per cent annually over the next two to three years from $23 million in 2015.

According to Otieno, international insurers such as Lloyd’s of London and Swiss Re have used ATI’s services because of the agency’s close relations with African governments. “We’re able to assist if there is a problem with a particular project,” he said.

Founded in 2001 by the African Development Bank and several African countries, the ATI is an export credit agency that provides political risk and trade credit risk insurance products aimed at reducing the risks associated with doing business in Africa. The agency currently operates in over 13 countries including Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, etc. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy is not a member of the ATI.