“Our ambition is to build a world-class pan-African network”
It is after a course “atypical” that Georges Kavege enters the insurance brokerage. Formerly of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), SGI Togo and C2A, this 56-year-old Togolese is giving himself the challenge of building a pan-African empire whose mission is to create and manage insurance broking companies. Exclusive!
You have officially launched in Lomé, an insurance brokerage company called Afrik Assurances. What missions do you assign to your entity?
Our main mission is to be a leader in our market and in all the countries where we are established, by offering clients, individuals and legal entities, tailor-made advice and insurance solutions adapted to their needs, for the effective protection of their property and patrimonies. This mission comes in three main points which are to collect, deliver and respect.
First of all, while preserving our independence, we need to bring together all stakeholders, ie insurers, reinsurers, experts, etc., in order to offer customers the best solutions. from committed specialists, and based on a charter oriented primarily towards defending the interests of our customers. Then deliver personalized advice, based on the analysis and audit of each particular situation to propose tailor-made solutions, likely to suit the needs of each insured. And finally, respect the commitments made to our customers, and put the practice of ethics and respect for the highest standards and standards at the heart of this relationship of trust.
Your company is currently controlled by Afrik Global Investors Group, another entity that you manage. What are his areas of intervention?
It is a holding company, parent company of the pan-African network of insurance brokerage companies called Afrik Assurances. It is a financial participation and wealth management company whose mission is to create and manage insurance brokerage companies in which it holds majority stakes. It assumes the supervision and control of its operating subsidiaries, which are mainly brokerage firms in the CIMA Zone (Inter-African Insurance Markets Conference), but also beyond.
Our ambition is to roll out the Afrik Assurances project in all the countries of the CIMA zone, but also beyond. It is also about building a world-class pan-African network and working for insurance development and extension in sub-Saharan Africa. The main purpose of the group is to provide financial and technical solutions and managerial assistance to the subsidiaries it holds or in which it could hold a majority financial interest. It also wants to be a corporate citizen that operates according to the highest standards and ethical standards, concerned with values such as respect for the environment and sustainable development.
You are a former ETI of which you have managed the asset management company. Should we conclude that you are now turning your back on the banking sector, to focus solely on insurance?
As you know, I had the privilege, like so many others, of working in this great institution and having held various positions of responsibility. I have been twice, in turn, general manager of two specialized subsidiaries both based in Abidjan, which are today EDC Investment Corporation which is the SGI of the Group for the WAEMU Zone, and EDC Asset Management that I have created. After almost 18 years of good and loyal service to ETI, I decided to leave in 2017. It is true to say that today all my energy and my motivation are turned towards the deployment of this ambitious project. panafrican that is Afrik Insurance. But I do not turn my back on the banking sector; on the contrary. I therefore intend to put at the disposal of the financial and banking sector in particular this experience that I had and this unique expertise in all humility being the main architect at the heart of the insurance risk management strategy within the largest bank set pan-African on the continent. It is therefore natural that Afrik Assurances wants to be the expert par excellence with regard to the risks associated with banking institutions.
What are your perspectives on the short, medium and long term with your new structure?
In the short term, the prospects are to continue the promotion of Afrik Assurances in Togo to better establish its presence and assert its identity in the Togolese landscape, and complete the ongoing installation of the company in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Burkina. In the medium term, while continuing to work tirelessly to make shareholders’ investments profitable, pursue our expansion policy while keeping the course of the search for excellence, and innovation in order to offer customers premium services and solutions. You know, our creed is also to constantly improve the quality of services and tailor-made solutions, in order to win this relationship of trust that we want to build everywhere with our customers. And in the long run, be the true pan-African broker with 100% African roots. Embody the reference in insurance brokerage and claim the position of leader in the CIMA zone at the service of the populations and the companies of this zone.
What analyzes do you make of the Togolese insurance sector?
The insurance market in Togo, to date, consists of several insurance companies, a reinsurer and several intermediaries. More specifically, there are 13 licensed companies, 7 of which operate in the property and casualty insurance sector, and six in life insurance. To this must be added intermediaries such as brokers on the one hand, and general agents, sales agents and business introducers on the other. As a member of the CIMA zone, insurance companies in Togo are subject to its regulations. And the sector is very competitive. We can recognize that during the last decade, the arrival of new players on the national territory has contributed to a revitalization of the sector. The new companies, on arrival, have sought to take their mark and in doing so, to cut corners on the market share, forcing the predecessors out of their torpor by becoming more “aggressive” commercially.
However, the dynamism observed and mentioned above in our market should not, in my humble opinion, hide the real shortcomings or difficulties such as the very low penetration of insurance in all sectors of the population. This is the same in most member states of the CIMA zone and is therefore not specific to the Togolese market. It is therefore not to blame anyone that to say that despite this revival of vitality found in places, the sector will soon know major upheavals related to a regulatory change, including the multiplication by 5 of the minimum amount of capital required for insurance companies, is nevertheless marked by a certain conservatism.
The rare innovations have not translated into everyday reality by a radical change in the way in which insurance solutions and services are consumed. We can therefore wonder if the products are adapted to the real needs of the consumers, which are the insured. There is also the question of whether the distribution channels for insurance products have evolved, taking into account developments, notably in terms of new information technologies, to reach out to those segments of the population that are kept apart.
Interviewed by Nephthali Messanh Ledy
