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Category:
Insurance
News /
Life
Insurance /
Sanlam / April 2010
Sanlam Extends Reach Into Africa Through New Uganda Business
South African financial services group, Sanlam, today launched a
life insurance business in Uganda, a country it believes has
excellent growth potential.
The
move is in line with Sanlam's
view of Africa as a strategic priority for business development and
follows the Group's
expansion initiatives in other African countries over the past few
years. The
Ugandan business is a milestone for the Group as it is the first
business in Africa which will fully carry the Sanlam name and brand.
Johan van Zyl, Group Chief Executive of Sanlam, says the decision to
open a business in Uganda was prompted by the scope for growth in
the country's
life insurance industry.
"Currently
life insurance contributes less than one percent to GDP.
However,
a number of factors such as the projected economic growth of three
to five percent in 2009 and 2010, the recent discovery of oil fields
and Uganda’s developing democracy mean that the need for a
well-insured population is increasing rapidly."
Marguerite de Waal of Sanlam Developing Markets (SDM) has been
appointed chief executive of the new company, Sanlam Life Insurance
(U) Limited.
SDM is a business in the Sanlam Group that provides affordable
financial solutions to the entry-level market in South Africa and
all market segments in other African countries where it operates, as
well as in India.
De
Waal said that the building of a distribution network for the
company's
products was already underway and the intention was to create a wide
network of agents, in the process creating employment opportunities
in Uganda.
"Initially,
we will provide a credit life offering in association with banking
partners and other credit providers which will later be extended to
include other financial services and solutions.
"As
a group with over 90 years of experience in life insurance, we
believe our best practices and expertise will contribute
meaningfully to this business but we will also be calling on Ugandan
experts to ensure that our offering is relevant to this country.
There
is never a one-size-fits all solution, so we will tailor-make the
Ugandan offering to, for instance, successfully offer relevant life
insurance solutions to the 80 percent of the workforce that is
engaged in the agricultural industry,"
she said.
The Sanlam Group has been creating and protecting wealth for its
clients for more than nine decades.
It
currently has more than three million policyholders and offers a
broad range of other financial services and products.
The
Group has operations all over South Africa, as well as in India,
Australia and Europe and, apart from Uganda, also in other African
countries such as Botswana,
Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia.
Sanlam Limited is listed on the
Johannesburg
and Namibian stock exchanges.
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