Board and Management of Continental Reinsurance Plc is looking to see an African Insurance industry that grows from within, developing its capacities and taking advantage of available growth opportunities.
The company believes that efforts must be geared towards developing insurance capacity within the content, by building human capital, acquiring new skills and utilizing capabilities from within.
Ajibola Ogunshola, chairman, Continental Re told shareholders at the Company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos that the firm’s view on Africa is permanent. “Our objective is an Africa that grows from within and our strategy is always towards taking advantage of the immense opportunities that abound across the continent for the benefit of all stakeholders”.
Femi Oyetunji, group managing director/CEO said at the meeting that as competition continues to grow stiffer with the entrance of new players in a number of markets, its footprint and permanent view on Africa will propel it to continue waxing stronger.
“In 2017, we enabled our Tunis office to write Re-takaful business through its Re-takaful window to consolidate our presence in the region and also sought accreditation as a local reinsurer in line with local content requirement in the Tanzanian market which was granted in year 2018.” According to him, “these moves are to significantly improve its revenue and assist toward realizing Project Alpha 2020 strategy of consolidating brand presence and enhance client services to guarantee sustainable growth and strengthen our already formidable multi-national talent pool to the benefit of our continent at large.”
Oyetunji stated that the realization of the likelihood of shocks in its principle markets, and vulnerability to portfolio concentration, made Continental Re commit to diversification as a core element of its strategy.
“We will continue to see stability and stronger traction in specific locations across our network and our pan-African footprint, which allows us ample room to counterbalance local volatility and hedge downside risks in our investments portfolio.”
Oyetunji noted that knowledge sharing and thought leadership are key aspects where Continental Re develops the market and add value to her partners.
“In line with this, we rolled out a series of training programmes that focused on imparting re/insurance skills to our clients and partners; we are happy that the programmes contribute to delivery of sustainable business practices and impacting positively on human capital requirement within the industry and the continent at large.”
Looking forward, he observed that a well-balanced pan-African footprint has been sustaining our growth momentum; this reinforces our confidence in our ability to continue to record and achieve a year growth in premium income and profit.
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