South African insurer Santam planning to expand into Asia

South Africa-based general insurer Santam is setting its sights on Asia to diversify its premium base and mitigate the slow growth it faces in its home market, reported Bloomberg.

The company, a subsidiary of the financial services group Sanlam, currently generates 82% of its premiums within South Africa.

In an interview, Santam CEO Tavaziva Madzinga said: “We are looking at Asia and the Middle East from a reinsurance perspective.

“Our expertise and understanding works well in emerging markets, and we also find that those are also growth markets and so we want to tap into some of that growth.”

This strategic move is inspired by the success of Sanlam in India, where it has been in partnership with Shriram Capital Group since 2005, contributing around 17% of Sanlam's profit.

The insurer's expansion into Asia is driven by the region's promising economic projections.

As per the report, the Middle East and central Asia are expected to see growth rates of 2.8% in 2024 and 4.2% the following year.

These figures starkly contrast with South Africa's forecasts of 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively.

“We are a market leader by market share, we have a depth of skill sets and experience, and we believe that that skill set and experience can be exported and it can be leveraged into some of those markets,” Madzinga was quoted as saying.

“Insurance is almost a global business by its nature anyway, and so you can write a business in new territories on a syndicated basis.”

The CEO added that the insurer aims to expand both organically and by pursuing external opportunities.

Santam's current international presence includes operations in Namibia and other emerging markets, serving more than one million policyholders, from individuals to commercial entities and institutions.

In June, Sanlam finalised a deal for the acquisition of a 60% stake in NMS Insurance Services (NMSIS), the insurance division of broadcaster MultiChoice.

NMSIS has been a registered micro-insurer in South Africa for more than two decades, offering a range of life and non-life insurance products including installation, funeral, device, subscription and debt waiver insurance solutions.

"South African insurer Santam planning to expand into Asia " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand.