By Sola Alabadan
The Managing Director of Allianz Nigeria, Adeolu Adewumi-Zer, said there are a lot of opportunities in Africa and that the future of insurance business is in the continent.
She stated this while addressing members of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) during the association’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos recently.
While emphasising that the future is Africa, she said “if the future is Africa, the future is Nigeria. So you cannot have a strategy for Africa, if you do not take Nigeria seriously.”
She also reiterated the company’s commitment to drive insurance growth in Nigeria through innovative products, professional expertise and excellent service delivery with cutting-edge technology in order to guarantee a sustainable future and prosperity for the people.
She said Allianz Nigeria is well positioned for profitability and growth, adding that the company is here to stay in order to expand the frontiers of insurance in Nigeria and Africa at large.
With its long years of experience and expertise in technical matters in insurance, she pointed out that Allianz has what it takes to make a difference in the continent.
“We have the expertise, we have the experience, we have the technology and we have the right quality and quantity of manpower to make a difference,” she stated.
She further said the company is fully recapitalised to the tune of N18 billion as required by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
According to her, “We are here to stay to drive insurance growth in Nigeria and in extension, Africa. Our strategic objective is to secure the future of our customers, the future of our employees, the future of our stakeholders and the future of the people in our communities.
She maintained that one of the strategies of Allianz is to be a preferred insurer in Nigeria, Africa and globally in line with the company’s recent joint venture collaboration with Sanlam.
“Because we know how important it is to have a partner with stamina at your side who prepares you with solid and sustainable solutions, we strive to do it right with passion and persistence.
“Allianz and Sanlam have agreed to combine their current and future operations across Africa to create the largest Pan-African non-banking financial services entity on the continent. The joint venture allows Allianz to accelerate its growth by meaningfully expanding the local reach and market penetration while establishing leading positions in key growth markets. Allianz and Sanlam will leverage each other’s strengths to unlock synergies and provide clients with best-in-class, innovative insurance solutions and technical excellence, improving value creation for all their stakeholders.”
She said the joint venture will enhance their capacity and capabilities to build scale where it matters now and, in the future, with a joint approach to geographical expansion aimed at achieving a leading position in Life and General Insurance in high priority markets on the continent.
The joint venture, she said, is part of their plans to outperform the market by combining Allianz global expertise and capabilities and Sanlam deep local knowledge to provide clients best in class, innovative insurance solutions and technical excellence, leveraging broad insurance expertise and capabilities.
She said the Allianz-Sanlam joint venture agreement is a Long-term commitment that will engender positive growth in Africa.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Immediate past NAIPCO Chairman and publisher of InspenOnline, Chuks Okonta, thanked the company for their interest in the Association.
While explaining the activities as well as what the Association is offering the industry, Okonta urged Allianz management to take advantage of the Association’s products such as Management Profiling, Advert to News, and Claim profiling.
