Chartis SA reveals African ambitions as it celebrates its 50th anniversary

As global commercial and consumer insurer Chartis celebrates 50 years of being in business in South Africa, it has made clear its ambitions to provide class-leading risk mitigation solutions across the African continent. From a sound base in South Africa,

He notes that GDP growth for the domestic market is forecast at 2.7%¹ and South Africa is the world’s 25th largest insurance market². “These facts in isolation amply demonstrate the opportunity in the domestic market, which Chartis intends to take advantage of,” said Durek. He says the company will draw on its global experience to introduce innovative insurance solutions to cover more risks than ever before – and that’s something the company will take further into Africa, too.

While Chartis provides the widest range of insurance offerings in South Africa, its global Chief Executive Officer, Peter Hancock, who is currently in South Africa for the anniversary celebration says that, “South Africa represents an ideal market for further investment and development by Chartis, particularly given our focus on data and analytics that we can leverage locally, our in-country talent base and domestic growth projections.”

In terms of African expansion, the continent’s population is expected to exceed 2 billion by 2050³, with 128 million households with discretionary spend by 2030⁴ and a $517 billion financial services market emerging by 2020⁵.

“With seven sub-Saharan countries in the global top 10 for projected annual GDP growth rates to 2015, these nations, governments, businesses, households and people have and will continue to seek insurance solutions to complement their lifestyles. These are markets that Chartis will target with sustainable insurance solutions,” says Hancock.

As it prepares to expand its footprint beyond the offices it already maintains in South Africa, Uganda and Kenya, Hancock explains how Chartis will assure quality. “Our top priorities are to strengthen all aspects of our underwriting, claims management, reserving, and risk management. This underpins the ability to create better products and services for our clients – which in turn, will drive growth,” he says