According to Barclays Bank Kenya Managing Director Jeremy Awori, the bank will now offer General and Life insurance policies in the country/FILE
According to Barclays Bank Kenya Managing Director Jeremy Awori, the bank will now offer General and Life insurance policies in the country. The move is in line with the bank’s mission to diverse its products by tapping into the growing insurance industry in Kenya.
The bank stands to benefit from the acquisition as the insurance company is already an established and profitable entity having registered a Sh518 million after tax profit in 2014. More so, Barclays will benefit from First Assurance’s existing infrastructure which includes its over 50,000 customer policies, an experienced work force, a database of customers and a strong reputation in the industry.
“Barclays Africa Bank customers will benefit from the acquisition as the partnership provides a one-stop shop for all their needs. For instance, customers requiring to get financing for projects and now get insurance policies from us to service those projects, becoming a win-win situation for all of us,” Awori added.
First Assurance on the other hand, will benefit from the acquisition as Barclays brings on board its high number of customers, a vast distribution network and the technical support needed by the company to sell its products.
“The planned acquisition of First Assurance is a good strategic fit for our business, provides us with a strong platform to expand our bancassurance offering in East Africa, and complements the Group’s financial target of increasing our revenues from Africa outside of South Africa to between 20 per cent and 25 per cent,” said the Managing Executive for Africa at Wealth, Investment Management and Insurance at Barclays Africa Lanz Zulu.
The bank follows the steps of other various Kenyan banks such as Ecobank which entered the bancassurance segment earlier this month.
The transaction is expected to be completed in September subject to regulatory approvals in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania and other conditions customary in the industry.
