Barclays enters life insurance market to boost revenues

Barclays Africa Group Ltd is eyeing the lucrative but highly under-served insurance business.

The lender Thursday announced it had partnered with businessmen Darshan Chandaria of Chandaria Industries and Mr Ayisi Makatiani of Fanisi Capital to enter the Kenyan life insurance market. The unit known as Barclays Life Assurance Kenya is majority owned (66.6 per cent) by Barclays Africa Group.

Kenya is the fifth market in which Barclays Africa has set up life insurance business. Other markets include South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia. Barclays Africa will use Kenya as its launch pad into the greater East African region.

Wealth, Investment Management and Insurance Chief Executive at Barclays Africa Willie Lategan said the lender wants to extend its footprint of financial products and services across the continent.

“Our entry into the Kenyan Life Insurance market provides us with a strong platform to further expand our offering into East Africa.” Among the products that Barclays Life Assurance Kenya will offer are education, credit life and personal accident products. The insurer is also offering funeral cover for immediate and extended family. The underwriter will initially target the bank’s half a million customers through Barclays Bank Kenya’s 122 branches.

Last year, Kenyan insurance premiums were valued at Sh162 billion, the equivalent of 3.5 per cent of the country’s Gross domestic product (GDP). The Kenyan insurance sector is beginning to register accelerated growth and the country was ranked the third fastest growing life insurance market in the world last year. This is being driven by a growing middle class, increased consumer awareness and the launch of innovative products.

“The life insurance market in Kenya is registering 20 per cent year-on-year growth, but our sector still represents a tiny fraction of the country’s rapidly expanding economy. Barclays Life Assurance Kenya will enable more Kenyans to protect themselves against life’s misfortunes as well as to save for long-term aspirations, such as education and retirement,” says William Maara, Managing Director of Barclays Life Assurance Kenya.

Quality service

“We want society to appreciate the liberation that insurance provides and the added dignity of being self-reliant at all stages of life, whether one is paying school fees or organising a loved one’s send- off.” Barclays Bank Kenya was awarded a bancassurance licence by the Insurance Regulatory Authority earlier this year. This allowed it to set up Barclays Insurance Agency Ltd, offering both life and general insurance products.

Speaking during the launch, Barclays Bank’s Managing Director Jeremy Awori said, “We will leverage our expansive distribution network, our legacy of offering quality financial advice to provide our customers with cutting-edge insurance products and quality service.”