TOGO – Ecobank Group’s Commercial Banking business has partnered with five insurance companies to offer a range of Bancassurance solutions to its Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) customers across markets where Ecobank operates.
OLD MUTUAL, ALLIANZ, SUNU, SANLAM & NSIA will offer Commercial Asset Insurance, Engineering insurance, Marine & Cargo insurance, Key Man insurance, Motor fleet Business Travel insurance, in addition to bespoke offerings such as Credit Insurance-Leasing, Credit Insurance-Invoice Discounting Without Recourse, and Agricultural Area Yield Insurance.
These customers will now benefit from the convenience of being able to access relevant solutions for all their insurance needs.
The Bancassurance service will be rolled out in phases, starting with Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Ecobank Group’s 21 other affiliates will come onboard in the second phase.
“Adding a comprehensive suite of Bancassurance solutions, in partnership with some of the most reputable insurance service providers across Africa, makes us a one-stop financial services hub,” Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Ecobank Group Executive, Commercial Banking said.
“Furthermore, the resilience of SME businesses is enhanced through the effective risk transfer that Bancassurance provides, while our solutions also offer our valued customers the satisfaction of knowing that they will have some protection, having learnt from the painful experiences of COVID-19.”
BOA collaborates with Alliance life
BANK of Africa (BOA) has launched its bancassurance services in collaboration with Alliance life and Alliance General Insurance dubbed; “Bima Kwanza”, which is set to bring changes in the insurance market in Tanzania.
The new service is also aimed at promoting financial inclusion and making the bank as a one stop center for all its clients’ needs.
Speaking during the launch, BOA Managing Director and CEO, Adam Mihayo said: “We are happy to launch the product because Bancassurance is becoming an important factor to support the overall growth of the financial services industry in many markets.”
“The partnership between banks and insurance companies has significant benefits to clients as it enables them to get an expanded products and services suite, and also helps from a risk coverage perspective for potential default situations in case unforeseen occurrences happen to them,” he said.
Bancassurance
The first Bancassurance partnership formed in Ghana was between Enterprise Insurance Company Limited and Standard Chartered Bank in 2007. This made Standard Chartered Bank the first corporate agent in the Ghanaian insurance industry.
Through the bank’s efforts, Bancassurance partnership channels are currently considered a great resource for building and widening the clientele base of insurance companies and further, growing their market share.
Through an aggressive forward-thinking approach, Standard Chartered was swift in creating an electronic point of sale (ePOS) for its Bancassurance business; a move that has served it well in the rapid, digital-first world of today.
According to a 2021 report from Research & Markets the value of the global bancassurance market will reach almost US$1.7 billion by 2026, with a combined annual growth rate of almost six per cent. That kind of growth is difficult to imagine in many lines of insurance.
Demand for Bancassurance services from SMEs across our markets has been on the rise as businesses seek to shake off the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by looking for solutions to cushion themselves from similar occurrences in the future.
Africa’s insurance industry is valued at about US$68 billion in terms of Gross Written Premium (GWP). Prior to COVID-19, the insurance market in Africa was expected to grow at compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 7 percent per annum between 2020 and 2025, nearly twice as fast as North America, over three times that of Europe, and better than Asia’s 6 percent.
This makes the continent the second-fastest-growing region for insurance globally after Latin America – thanks to steady economic growth in most countries and the underdeveloped insurance sector.
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