Johan van Zyl, Group Chief Executive of Sanlam
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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