KENYA – British multinational Insurance company Prudential plc has picked Kenya as its African headquarters, a few months after becoming the first firm to subscribe to the Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC).
Apart from Kenya, the firm has operations in Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria with all these offices directly reporting to London
The new continental hub will oversee operations in four regions covering eight countries that serve at least 1.7 million customers.
The UK’s oldest insurer which commenced operations in 1848 was among two companies that applied to become anchor clients of NIFC.
TheCityUK, riding upon the partnership between the UK and Kenya signed in 2020, submitted Prudential’s application alongside a memorandum of understanding.
Speaking at the launch in Nairobi, the country’s National Treasury Permanent Secretary Julius Muia asked other foreign investors to take advantage of the country’s promising financial hub to grow portfolios and give value to their customers.
“Kenya’s expansive tech innovations, skilled labor, high internet penetration, and diversified economy presents numerous opportunities for investors. Incentives that will come with NIFC are icing on the cake,’’ Muia said.
“There is a huge unexploited market here. Today, Africa has an insurance penetration rate of 2.7 per cent and its out-of-pocket spend on health is almost double that of Asia at US$6 billion’’
NIFC Chief Executive Oscar Njuguna said that the regulations to govern Africa’s new financial center will be ready in the coming weeks.
Prudential is setting its African base in Kenya seven years after its return after exiting the continental market in the 1990s before returning to Ghana in 2013.
Prudential’s regional CEO of Insurance Growth Markets Wilf Blackburn said the Nairobi office underscores the company’s deep commitment to Africa.
“Our purpose is to help people get the most out of life. In line with this, we want to make healthcare and financial security more accessible and affordable to the people of Africa,’’ Blackburn said.
Prudential Africa Chief Operating Officer Nick Holder said the firm is counting on Nairobi’s strategic position to expand its network to 20 more countries in the continent in 2022.
He said the insurer sees the demand for insurance growing across Africa where the population is expected to double to 2 billion by 2050.
“There is a huge unexploited market here. Today, Africa has an insurance penetration rate of 2.7 percent and its out-of-pocket spend on health is almost double that of Asia at US$6 billion,’’ Holder said.
He added that they have several products in the pipeline targeting the informal sector and small businesses, a move aimed at increasing uptake in countries like Kenya, which has low insurance penetration of below 2.4 percent.
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