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East Africa: SA's Liberty Group to Enter Regional Market
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The East African (Nairobi)
24 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Dagi Kimani
Nairobi
South African life insurer Liberty Group will this year join the East African market, completing the entry of that country's top four insurers into the region.
The Liberty Group is South Africa's third-largest insurance and financial supermarket, behind Old Mutual Plc and Sanlam Ltd.
The latter two already have a significant presence in East Africa, with Old Mutual being one of the region's largest fund managers.
Sanlam's interests in East Africa increased significantly two years ago when it bought into Pan Africa Insurance Group, a leading Kenyan insurer.
The entry of Liberty into the East African market follows the beaten path that has seen major South African financial giants open branches or gain footholds across Africa by buying out existing businesses.
Last year saw one of the largest such moves in East Africa when Standard Bank (Stanbic) bought into Kenya's CFC Group.
"Nairobi will be the hub of our East African business despite all the issues they're having," Rex Tomlinson, deputy chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based Liberty, said in a statement alluding to the post-election violence witnessed in January and February.
Liberty's Nairobi office will offer life, health, property and casualty insurance as well as money management services in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. In its last financial year, the Liberty Group had a net income of $364 million.
Expansion into Kenya, said Mr Tomlinson, will be done concomitantly with the opening of new offices in Lagos, Nigeria, which will act as the headquarters for operations in Ghana, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
Liberty already has units in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, served out of South Africa.
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The entry of all four top South African insurers into the East African market will heighten competition in a market that is already served by many local players.
The Liberty Group will be the second major South African entrant into the life business in the region, after Metropolitan Life Insurance Ltd opened its doors in January 2006.
Metropolitan is South Africa's fourth largest insurer.
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