Focus Media (Kigali)
Sam Ruburika
24 August 2008
Africa Air Rescue (AAR), a health services provider operating in East Africa, resumed its activities in Rwanda after the National Bank of Rwanda granted the company a license to sell health insurances.
AAR has been present in Rwanda for several years, but it suspended its operations in 2006 after the National Insurance Commission (NIC) said the company did not meet all the requirements for a medical insurer, such as having a minimum share capital of Frw100 million, with 30% of the shares being held by Rwandans.
"At that moment there was no regulatory framework, but with the approval of the insurance act by parliament in June we were able to come back into the Rwandan market," Jagi Gakunju, the AAR chief executive officer, said.
Mr. Gakunju remarked the issuing of the operations license by BNR (in which NIC is now integrated) marks a new chapter for AAR in Rwanda. He pointed out that AAR had managed to attract 3,000 clients who included some corporate institutions such as BCR.
Despite the suspension of its operations, AAR had continued to follow up on the clients.
"We continued servicing our clients despite having suspended our operations in Rwanda. We were the ones running BCR's clinic," Mr. Gakunju said, adding that AAR now targets about 5,000 clients by the end of the year.
He however pointed out that the suspension had cost the company dearly, having lost for instance US$ 40,000 in terms of materials that had been purchased to set up AAR's first clinic in Kigali, as well as loosing the 10,000 clients AAR had targeted over the two years.
Concerning Rwandans buying shares in AAR, Mr. Gakunju pointed out that local members of AAR are interested in investing and acquiring of shares in the company.
AAR is represented in all the districts and collaborates with about 30 local hospitals and clinics. The company is also in the process of setting up a state of the art clinic in Rwanda which according to Mr. Gakunju will be ready and operational by the end of this year.
"Kigali requires at least 5 such clinics," Mr. Gakunju said, adding that the second clinic is expected to be operational late 2009.
The company has also gained a foothold Burundi, where it has 100 clients so far. "We are in the process of setting up offices in Burundi but we plan on having our headquarters in Kigali," the CEO said.
"We expect Kigali to be the hub of the Great Lakes region as we are also looking at possibilities to tap into the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo."
AAR has almost 140,000 clients in East Africa. Last year alone it made 257 evacuations, and had a turnover of US$ 4.7 million (Frw 2.5 billion).
The largest health insurance provider in the region was set up in1984 as an air rescue service only, it's main line of operations then being evacuation of people to hospitals.
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