Providers of Islamic insurance (takaful) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries reported a decline of over a third in their combined net income during the first half of 2021 (H1 2021) compared with the same period last year. The deterioration reflected rising claims and stiff competition in a still fragmented industry. We expect GCC takaful operators, which currently lack scale, to accelerate their technology investment and seek out merger and acquisition (M&A) deals to build the critical mass needed....