Pan Africa Insurance Holdings (PAIHL) has rebranded to Sanlam Kenya as it diversifies its product offerings on the Kenyan market.
The rebranding will see Kenya’s first insurer to be listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) formally become a member of Sanlam Group, Africa’s largest non-bank financial services firm.
Sanlam Group is listed on both Johannesburg and Namibian Stock Exchanges and boasts of a market capitalisation of $9 billion (Sh914.6 billion) as at close of last year.
This is over 100 times that of PAIHL by close of 2015 (Sh8.64 billion).
Speaking after the rebrand, Sanlam Kenya CEO Mugo Kibati said the rebranding decision was based on company’s last year's performance and industry trends. “Sanlam group has been a major shareholder in PAIHL for several years.
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We have decided to entrench this partnership. Rebranding will help us better leverage on the expertise, experience and network of Sanlam group,” said Kibati.
Sanlam group has footprints in 33 countries across Africa and it first acquired a stake in PAIHL in 2006, when it acquired one of PAIHL’s subsidiaries. Kibati said even though insurance penetration in Kenya is high relative to its neighbours, overall, the uptake is low in absolute terms with many players concentrated on similar products.
The insurer will now be shifting gears to be able to offer a wide range of products and services to clients, secured at high end with the partnership.
Kibati said the business will soon launch financial business services on general and discretionary wealth management fronts.
Sanlam Group CEO Ian Kirk said there are immense opportunities on Kenyan market and in the East African region.
“We have to respond to customer needs. We have a lot of products to offer seamless services in areas such as property insurance, marine, liability, transport of goods and projects insurances. The life insurance will also benefit,” he said.
The decision means that all its four subsidiaries - Pan Africa Life, Pan Africa Asset Management, Gateway Insurance and Pan Africa Securities - will now be called Sanlam Life Insurance, Sanlam Investments, Sanlam General Insurance and Sanlam Securities respectively.
Last year was a rocky period for insurers, with PAIHL bidding farewell to its 53-year-old name with bad memories of 97 per cent reduction in its profit.
