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Business News of Monday, 23 February 2015

Source: Samuel Ohene

AXA Insurance, SIC Insurance discuss possible partnership

The Chief Executive Officer of AXA Insurance responsible for New Market Developments in the Mediterranean and Latin American Regions, Mr. Frederic Flejou have held talks with the Board and Management of SIC Insurance about possible collaboration between the two companies in the very near future.

Speaking at a meeting held in Accra, Mr. Flejou said the AXA group’s investment in Africa; especially the West African market is the company’s strategy of continued expansion and consolidation into emerging markets.

He said AXA has been adjudged the world’s number one global insurance brand for 5 consecutive years running. “The company has a brand value growth of 14% and ranked the Best Green Brand in the insurance industry worldwide.

“AXA is also one of the largest insurers and financial management powerhouse with a presence in 56 countries and has over 157,000 employees and distributors who are committed to serving their 102 million plus clients globally. Its Asset Management wing has operations in over 102 countries.

According to Mr. Flejou, the AXA group has presence across Europe, Asia, The Americas, Africa, and also has strong foundations in the largest emerging economies such as Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, India and a presence in China which is a Joint Venture Partnership with ICBC, the largest bank in China.

The company’s growth in Africa has been mainly in Francophone countries with presence in Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal and Algeria.

“In the last year AXA embarked on a major initiative to enter the Anglophone market and has set Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana as Priority One markets to invest in. Two months ago, AXA purchased shares in Mansard Insurance PLC, one of the leading brands and most profitable insurance companies in Nigeria. Ghana is their next big destination in this drive, and they are looking forward to partner with an insurance brand that reflects their values and aspirations” he said.

On his part, the Board Chairman of SIC Insurance, Mr. Mike Hammah said the company’s Board is looking for strategic partners who would bring on board their expertise and ingenuity to help drive the future growth of Ghana’s largest and preferred insurer and extend its leadership in the industry.

This he said would position SIC Insurance to take on bigger and prudent risks, retain premium which hitherto would have been paid to reinsurers and increase the company’s competitive advantage in both the local and global markets.

He noted that just like AXA, SIC Insurance is the industry leader in the country with a very solid foundation to provide the needed partnership with AXA.

Mr. Hammah said such collaborations would also help the nation’s number one insurer in its unflinching drive to consistently create exceptional value for all its shareholders. Adding that, leveraging on the complementary strengths, as well as common values and long-term visions of the two brands, SIC Insurance, would be positioned to deliver even higher levels of product innovation, underwriting capacity and operational excellence.

AXA makes over 90 Billion Euros in revenue and almost 5 Billion Euros in Net Earnings each year. The company currently manages over 1 Trillion Euros in assets and appears on the Fortune 25 list of companies.