As SanlamAllianz officially unveiled its new joint venture in Nigeria, it has vowed to foster financial inclusion and strengthen access to insurance in the country.
At the unveiling of the joint venture in Lagos on Thursday, the Managing Directors/Chief Executive Officers of the SanlamAllianz Life Insurance and SanlamAllianz General Insurance maintained that the JV would strengthen the Nigerian insurance sector.
In September 2023, Sanlam and Allianz officially joined forces to establish Sanlam Allianz Africa (SanlamAllianz), the largest pan-African non-banking financial services entity operating across 27 countries on the African continent. The National Insurance Commission has also approved the merger for the Nigerian market, hence the launch.
Speaking at the launch, MD/CEO of SanlamAllianz Life Insurance, Tunde Mimiko, said that the goal was to transform how insurance is being served in the Nigerian insurance landscape.
“We want to ensure that we create wealth, we preserve wealth, and we protect wealth in an enhanced way. This joint venture also aligns with the ambition to ensure that we expand our financial services and offerings to a broader audience by providing innovative solutions that will foster financial inclusion and further deepen the penetration of insurance in Nigeria.
“By so doing, we’ll be empowering individuals to be financially secure and confident, and we will be fostering the creation of value to all stakeholders. We will be leveraging our combined capabilities and our economies of scale.”
Mimiko added that the firm would be creative and innovative in providing financial solutions that will help meet the needs of customers and support the development of the financial service industry.
He said, “Our aim is to continue to make insurance accessible to all Nigerians, everywhere, anywhere, all the time. By so doing, we will be contributing to Nigeria’s role in African trade and the global economy generally. We also identify and acknowledge our role in creating jobs. We have been doing this, but this joint venture also gives us the opportunity to expand in that objective.
“Our focus will be to create jobs for young individuals. We will also be investing in financial knowledge that will empower small businesses to flourish. When small businesses flourish, what will happen? It expands our contribution to economic growth and development as well. All we’re doing will be towards expanding the economy and ensuring that we make insurance accessible to all our country. So two strong objectives, financial inclusion and deepening the insurance penetration.”
Highlighting the strengths of the partners in the JV, the MD/CEO of SanlamAllianz General Insurance, Yomi Onifade, said, Allianz is one of the largest asset managers in the world, with Assets Under Management estimated about $1.92tn as of end of last year, and has remained the number one insurance brand for five years running.
On the other side, the Sanlam group, which has been in existence for over 107 years, is the largest insurer in Africa, present in 27 countries, and supports more than 20 million customers.
On the decision for both partners to collaborate, Onifade said, “The two groups realise that they have similar values and the stakeholders, staff, customers, shareholders, all stood to gain from a synergy of action. When ² the JV was finalised in September 2023, a truly Pan African champion was born with more than two centuries of combined experience.
“A new champion of insurance and non-banking, financial services with ambitions for every player in Africa, whether individuals, public, private employees, large companies, SMEs, major projects or large risk, but also workers in the informal sector. This champion offers life and General Insurance Services on the continent and also provides asset management, health coverage and third-party payment, not to mention reinsurance through our sister company.”
