Zimre bullish over regional business
ZIMRE Holdings says a strong balance sheet resulting from consolidation of its regional insurance operations will encourage injection of fresh capital and bolster the regional business units’ underwriting capacity.
This comes as the group looks to pursue new markets in the region, harvesting its opportunities in the insurance value chain, and broadening its ecosystem through group synergies and various partnerships locally and across the African continent.
Emeritus Reinsurance managing director Patience Marwiro recently said the regional business’ commitment to innovation, a skilled workforce, and client-centric solutions will be its guiding lights, adding that Emeritus boasts a physical regional presence backed by the strong technical know-how of its craft and a solid balance sheet.
“Consolidation of the group’s regional reinsurance cluster under Emeritus International Reinsurance has entered its final phase following the approval of the amalgamation of Emeritus Re-Botswana into Emeritus International Reinsurance.
“This move is set to encourage the injection of additional competitive capital into the regional reinsurance units, enabling them to further expand the Emeritus brand throughout the African continent,” the group said in an update for the period to September 30, 2023.
Zimre said regulatory approvals to inject fresh capital into Emeritus Re-Mozambique were secured in June 2023, and the recapitalisation programme will help the unit scale up its underwriting capacity, ensuring that there is more control over the wallet and cash productivity to generate positive shareholder returns.
Re-insurance remains ZHL’s core business, and it maintains key investments in direct short-term insurance.
In the quarter under review, the reinsurance and reassurance cluster posted impressive growth in insurance contract revenue in inflation-adjusted terms, which grew by 129 percent to $61,4 billion while the growth represented a 623 percent jump in historical cost terms to $37,6 billion.
The revenue emanated from new business acquisitions through various developmental projects in the local market.
“The regional operations’ strategy to participate in targeted external markets and big accounts paid off, contributing to this jump in insurance contract revenue for the period,” the company said.
ZHL said the hybrid business model employed by the short-term insurance cluster has begun to register an increase in direct business composition from 33 percent to 58 percent as of September 30, 2023.
“This increased the underwriting capacity of the operation and expedited the insurance contract revenue growth by 72 percent from $1,8 billion to $3,1 billion in the current period in inflation-adjusted terms.”
To ensure its progress is continuous, the company is restructuring and building capacity for organic growth through the introduction of new businesses such as employee benefits, healthcare, and diversifying its agricultural offerings.