- ZB sets up reinsurance in Botswana
- P&C Reinsurance provides short-term reinsurance business in Botswana
- Reinsurance products and services, including fire, auto, engineering, liability, crop, and livestock
ZSE-listed ZB Financial Holdings has established a reinsurance subsidiary in Botswana P&C Reinsurance, as part of the group's objective to increase its presence in the area and diversify its sources of income. Plans for the group's regional growth are ongoing, and the company is exploring establishing regional financial services in Botswana and Mauritius.
Shepherd Fungura, group chief executive, stated that the expansion into Botswana is a planned strategy that supports the company's goal of being a preeminent, well-regarded financial services company in Africa.
“From a strategic point, ZBFH was motivated to establish a presence in Botswana due to the need to grow in the region and diversify streams. For the ZBFH group, this move is a stepping stone for identifying further growth opportunities in its key areas of specialization, banking, insurance, and investments not only in Botswana but the rest of the continent,” he said.
P&C Reinsurance provides short-term reinsurance business in Botswana and the rest of Africa. It started operating in July 2022 and was formally established on November 8, 2022.
Fungura stated that the business offers a comprehensive range of reinsurance products and services, including fire, auto, engineering, liability, crop, and livestock insurance, and that it has its own unique retrocession scheme defending its acceptability.
“The company took note of Botswana’s desire to increase livestock and crop production in its agriculture initiatives and promised to complement with appropriate insurance products for the protection against insurable perils,” he said.
In order to ensure that it is not constrained by geography, Fungura stated that P&C will aggressively pursue digitalization as part of the ongoing One Digital ZB transformation path.
It can also be noted that ZB Reinsurance profitability soared for the six-month period ending June 30, 2022, from $277,56 million in 2021 to $990,70 million, in inflation-adjusted terms. The company's total assets increased by 203 per cent, from $4,073 billion as of December 31, 2021, to $5,660 billion as of June 30, 2022.
Boas Manzvera, the general manager of the region, is in charge of the team, which has a total of 30 years of expertise covering technical reinsurance, retail insurance, accounting and finance. The team includes experienced and well-exposed local insurance underwriters namely Gofaone Letswao, Tefo Seakgosing and Mathogonolo Legae.
According to Manzvera, P&C has already had an effect on the market and secured some business. The ambitious digital transformation effort being pursued by ZBFH has resulted in a significant rebranding and digitalization of operations and procedures, including mobile and online banking.
According to Fungura, the business will be growing and expanding outside of Zimbabwe by expanding its footprint across the continent in 2023.
