Winners and highly commended revealed at Intelligent Insurer’s MENA Awards 2026

The event brought together nearly 200 insurance professionals from across the Middle East and North Africa. Congratulations to all the winners and highly commended recipients, whose achievements reflect outstanding innovation and excellence across the insurance industry.

Award sponsors included Marsh, Takaful Oman Insurance Company, Howden, Mosaic Insurance, Kay International, and Sidani Innovative Management Services.

This year’s programme featured 27 company categories and four individual categories, with several new additions for 2026: MGA of the Year, Digital Transformation of the Year, Motor Insurer of the Year, and Insurance Mentor of the Year.

1. Actuarial/Risk Consultancy Firm of the Year

Winner: PwC

Judges comments: “PwC Middle East’s submission presents a highly compelling case, demonstrating strong alignment with the judging criteria through its scale, innovation, regulatory influence, and measurable industry impact. The firm clearly differentiates itself through a combination of deep actuarial expertise, proprietary technology platforms, and trusted relationships with regulators and major insurers across the region.”

Highly Commended: Milliman

2. Audit Service Provider of the Year

Winner: KPMG LG

Judges comments: “KPMG Middle East delivered a top-tier submission, demonstrating leadership in IFRS 17 execution through a structured, technology- enabled audit methodology, complex engagement delivery, strong regulatory engagement, and credible client testimonials, reinforcing its position as a trusted, high-quality audit partner.”

Highly Commended: Grant Thornton

3. Broker/Distributor of the Year

Winner: Marsh

Judges comments: “Marsh combines all their strength which gives them an edge over their competitors in the wholesale brokerage, treaty, and retail brokerage. In addition, it is supported by their consultancy services on investment and employees. In terms of size, presence, scope of products and market penetration, analysis and technology, they remain above the rest of the competitors. Moreover, their model of operation allowed all Marsh entities to work closely with global strength and reach. The ecosystem they created made all their entities work in harmony and effectively.”

Highly Commended: Lockton 

 4. Claims Manager / Loss Adjuster of the Year

Winner: Sukoon Insurance 

Judges comments: “Sukoon Insurance has established itself as a regional leader in claims management through a comprehensive transformation of its operations, emphasizing customer-centricity, digital innovation, and operational excellence. Over the past several years, the company has restructured its Commercial and Medical Claims divisions, implementing specialized units for different claim complexities and clinical governance. This approach has enhanced accountability, expertise, and responsiveness across all lines, including Medical, Motor, and Commercial claims.”

Highly Commended: Crawford & Company

5. Cyber Insurance Company of the Year 

Winner: Howden

Judges comments: “Howden is a leading global insurance broker providing cyber solutions. This is demonstrated by its products, which are distributed across the MENA region, as well as its value-added advisory services that enable clients to understand their cyber exposures and assess their cyber resilience.”

Highly Commended: Mosaic Insurance 

6. Commercial Lines Insurer of the Year

Winner: Sukoon Insurance

Judges comments: “Sukoon has shown itself to be a strong regional insurer across many lines of business and across many market segments. It has a strong performance this year and has proven to be thriving in the current market conditions. Sukoon Insurance has demonstrated outstanding leadership in commercial insurance, and has achieved strong growth.”

Highly Commended: GIG Gulf 

7. Digital Transformation of the Year- NEW for 2026

Winner: GIG Gulf

Judges comments: “A highly compelling submission demonstrating GIG Gulf’s end-to-end digital transformation, with quantified results, AI-driven underwriting and claims, ultra-fast APIs, exceptional resilience and customer focus, making it the strongest and most complete entry against the judging criteria.”

Highly Commended: Jubilee Insurance

8. Health Insurer of the Year 

Winner: Bupa Arabia 

Judges comments: “Bupa Arabia demonstrates outstanding leadership in health insurance through comprehensive coverage, superior customer experience, and strong integration of digital health services. Its focus on preventive care, wellness programs, and seamless claims processing positions it as a benchmark for excellence in the regional health insurance market.”

Highly Commended: GIG Gulf

9. Insurer of the Year – Overall

Winner: QIC 

Judges comments: “QIC demonstrates a good success story for growth and expansion. Starting as a local company, they have evolved to become a major regional player and continued to progress in becoming a global player. Their equity, assets, operating models, on-ground presence in the region and beyond, strong equity and solvency, demonstrate a very positive trajectory for reaching heights. They have shown ability for a wide product range in retail, specialty lines, and employment benefits. They have implemented successful and well-thought strategies, differentiate themselves from their peers in technology advancement. They have demonstrated sustainability in their products and continuous growth.”

Highly Commended: Sukoon Insurance

10. Insurtech of the Year - Commercial Lines

Winner: Merimen Technologies FZE

Judges comments: “Operationally mature with strong commercial-lines depth across motor, marine, and property, the platform delivers significant P&C value through AI-driven claims and quantified improvements. More than a quoting tool, it is a comprehensive digital operating system integrating underwriting, policy, claims, and ecosystem partners.”

Highly Commended: Democrance

11. Insurtech of the Year - Personal Lines

Winner: Democrance

Judges comments: “Market-leading breadth across personal lines, with strong embedded distribution via banks, telcos, wallets, and aggregators. Testimonials reinforce execution excellence. The most complete, impactful personal-lines proposition in the category.”

Highly Commended: InsuranceMarket.ae

12. Law Firm of the Year 

Winner: Al Tamimi & Company

Judges comments: “Al Tamimi & Company continues to set a regional benchmark through its unmatched geographic reach, institutional depth, and leadership in complex, multi jurisdictional legal matters. The firm sustained excellence in regulatory, corporate, and dispute resolution work - combined with its strong understanding of regional business environments. Al Tamimi & Company has been at the forefront of insurance legal services in the Middle East for over three decades.”

Highly Commended: Clyde & Co

13. Life Insurer of the Year 

Winner: Zurich International Life Middle East

Judges comments: “Zurich International Life Middle East has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the life insurance sector over the past year, combining innovation, customer focus, and measurable impact. The firm’s Zurich Advisory Network (ZAN) achieved a remarkable six-fold growth in just four years, reflecting both market demand and strategic execution. This growth, coupled with plans for further expansion across the UAE and GCC, positions Zurich as a market leader with strong operational and strategic capabilities.”

Highly Commended: Islamic Arab Insurance Co (Salama)

14. MGA of the Year

Winner: Arma Underwriting 

Judges comments: “Arma Underwriting Limited has distinguished itself as a leading Managing General Agent (MGA) in the Middle East over the past 18 months, demonstrating exceptional growth, strategic development and a commitment to delivering innovative reinsurance solutions to the Middle East as well as extending its reach to Worldwide on certain lines.”

Highly Commended: Mosaic Insurance Services 

15. Motor Insurer of the Year- NEW for 2026

Winner: Qatar Insurance Company (QIC)

Judges comments: “QIC was selected because it transformed motor insurance into a seamless, mobile-first experience, combining insurance and essential car services in one simple platform and continuously improving it based on real customer feedback.”

Highly Commended: Sukoon Insurance

16. Personal Lines Insurer of the Year 

Winner: GIG Gulf 

Judges comments: “GIG Gulf delivers seamless, tech-enabled experiences that simplify policy management and claims. The company manages a large number of active policies, reinforcing its strong footprint and customer trust. The portfolio spans Motor, Home, Travel, Health, Life, Cyber, and Personal Accident, with tailored solutions for high-net-worth clients. Innovations like Cyber Insurance and enhanced home coverage with built-in digital protection differentiate GIG Gulf from competitors.”

Highly Commended: Qatar Insurance Company

17. Ratings Agency of the Year

Winner: A.M. Best

Judges comments: “A.M. Best is a well-established regional leader, delivering unrivalled insurance credit ratings, extensive research, and thought leadership. It’s proven rating stability, innovative solutions, and proactive focus on emerging risks set the benchmark for technical excellence and strategic partnership in MENA.”

Highly Commended: S&P Global Ratings

18. Reinsurance Broker of the Year 

Winner: Guy Carpenter

Judges comments: “Guy Carpenter stands as the clear category leader, combining global scale, deep regional engagement, unparalleled placement capability, and proprietary analytics unmatched within the MENA market.”

Highly Commended: Howden and Chedid Re

19. Reinsurer of the Year 

Winner: Swiss Re

Judges comments: “Swiss Re, a global reinsurance leader, combines unmatched financial strength, robust underwriting across P&C, Life & Health, and Corporate Solutions, proprietary SONAR research, and innovative, custom risk solutions, delivering resilience, capital stability, and thought leadership amid evolving global risks.”

Highly Commended: SCOR

20. Sustainability Initiative of the Year Award

Winner: HAYAH Insurance 

Judges comments: “HAYAH delivers the most complete, multi-dimensional sustainability model in this category. Their initiative spans financial inclusion, education, internal workforce sustainability, digital efficiency, and governance—all backed by concrete impact statements. Fully digital, paperless model; inclusive products; strong financial literacy initiatives; measurable impact through policy issuance and internal programs.”

Highly Commended: Zurich International Life Middle East

21. Takaful Specialist of the Year

Winner: Abu Dhabi National Takaful Company 

Judges comments: “Great submission, with standout strengths including superior ratings, strong solvency, sustained multi-year profitability, disciplined audited IFRS 17 reporting, and robust digital and catastrophe-response capabilities.”

Highly Commended: Sukoon Takaful

22.  Third Party Administrator of the Year

Winner: Nas Neuron Health Services

Judges comments: “Nas Neuron has consistently leveraged digital platforms and data-driven solutions to enhance operational efficiency, claims management, and service delivery, allowing it to outperform peers in a highly competitive market. Its strategic consolidation with other TPA players has further strengthened scale, capabilities, and market reach, positioning NAS as the leading and most resilient TPA in the region.”

Highly Commended: Mednet Global Healthcare Solution

23. Technology/Software Solution of the Year

Winner: Sidani Innovative Management Services

Judges comments: “SIMS delivers a comprehensive, AI‐centric, low‐code insurance automation platform that produces measurable efficiency gains, dramatically shortens time‐to‐market, and educates the market through its consultative PIC3 methodology.”

Highly Commended: Akur8 and Vita Virtues 

24.  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Insurer of the Year

Winner: Tawuniya

Judges comments: “Tawuniya is a top-tier Saudi insurer with outstanding financial strength, national market dominance, and strong Vision 2030 alignment. Its digital transformation, innovative products, ESG commitments, and award-winning marketing set the standard for leadership, scale, and customer experience.”

Highly Commended: Bupa Arabia

25. Oman Insurer of the Year

Winner: Takaful Oman Insurance SAOG

Judges comment: “Takaful Oman has shown strong financial performance with a clear commitment to innovation and digital transformation that improves customer access and service efficiency. It consistently delivers a customer-centric experience, supported by disciplined governance and robust risk management. Its inclusive culture, talent development focus, and meaningful societal contribution further reinforce its leadership in the market.”

Highly Commended: AFIC

26. Qatar Insurer of the Year

Winner: Qatar Insurance Company (QIC)

Judges comments: “This is the most impressive and well-evidenced submission, demonstrating QIC’s undisputed national leadership, exceptional financial performance, largest market footprint, unique product innovation, and the region’s only 360-degree digital insurance ecosystem, supported by strong profitability, expansion, and high-profile testimonials.”

Highly Commended: Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Company

27. UAE Insurer of the Year 

Winner: Zurich International Life Middle East

Judges comments: “Zurich International Life sets the pace in innovation and customer-centric growth, backed by standout digital journeys and consistently strong satisfaction outcomes. It reinforced trust through clear transparency and reliable claims performance, while also leading market-shaping workplace savings solutions that strengthen financial wellbeing. Its commitment to community impact and financial literacy further distinguishes it as a purpose-led leader in the UAE.”

Highly Commended: Sukoon Insurance 

 28. Woman in MENA Insurance

Winner: Noura Shamseddine, Kuwait Insurance Company

Judges comments: “Noura’s particularly remarkable achievement is that she is among the few professionals in the Middle East to have completed the Society of Actuaries (SOA) exams at a young age and become a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. This demonstrates not only her intellectual capability and dedication to the actuarial profession but also her drive to achieve excellence early in her career. Achieving this distinction in a highly competitive and rigorous global examination process positions her as a role model for aspiring actuaries in the region.”

Highly Commended: Nariman Maalouf, Sidani Innovative Management Services

 29. Insurance Mentor of the Year - NEW for 2026

Winner: Dr Ali Wazaney, GIG- Jordan

Judges comments: “His mentorship approach is rooted in academic rigor and organizational leadership, guiding teams and influencing sector-wide learning. His contributions to education and thought leadership have positively impacted emerging talent in the region. Ali is known for his professionalism, strong technical understanding of the insurance market, and steady leadership style. He is respected for being structured, solution-oriented, and supportive in his engagements, with a reputation for reliability and clear communication.”

Highly Commended: Mohamed Seghir, HAYAH and Swarnaleka Shetty, Zurich International Life Ltd. Middle East

30. Emerging Talent

Winner: Oulfa Maazouz, ZGEBS Middle East Distribution Manager, Zurich International Life

Judges comments: “Exceptional entry with client testimonials. First-of-its-kind regional role, measurable industry impact, strong leadership, and outstanding third-party validation. Demonstrates innovation, collaboration, and influence beyond tenure. Oulfa Maazouz shows emerging talent, translating sophisticated products into trusted solutions aligned with Zurich’s global standards.”

Highly Commended: Kevin El Fakih, Head Of Marketing, NasNeuron Health Services

31. Insurance Professional of the Year 

Winner: Ayman Al-Ajmi, Chairman and CEO, Braxtone Group

Judges comments: “A standout entry, demonstrating sustained leadership and Presented by clear impact across the sector. The submission showed strong strategic execution, an innovative mindset, and consistent results in complex environments. It also reflected a genuine commitment to raising professional standards through robust governance and mentoring others.”

Highly Commended: Ken Maw, Managing Director, Al Futtaim Willis

“It was fantastic to return to Dubai for the 15th edition of the MENA II Awards. This is a truly innovative sector, and we were impressed by both the diversity and the quality of the entries. The judges had some incredibly tough decisions to make, and we were delighted to present the winners and highly commended recipients with their trophies and recognise their hard work and contributions to the industry,” said Peter Scott, Managing Director, Newton Media Ltd.

“Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to our sponsors, judges, and nominees for helping to make this event such a tremendous success,” he added.

Over several weeks at the end of 2025, an independent panel of expert judges reviewed the submissions and, through a combination of scoring and panel discussions, selected the winners in each category. The judges were carefully chosen for their knowledge and expertise, and only assessed categories in which they had no conflict of interest.

The full independent judging panel can be viewed here.

Save the date for the MENA II Awards 2027, which will return to Dubai this time next year. Nominations will open in summer 2026. If you’re interested in being a nominee, judge, or sponsor—or would like to book a table early—please email us.

For further information about the awards, please see MENA II Awards 2026 - Home Page, or contact Aysima Ahmadli, Conference Producer, Intelligent Insurer, at aahmadli@intelligentinsurer.com.

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