Germany’s Allianz Insurance plans to acquire majority stake in Ensure Insurance to pave for for it to gain access to the Nigerian financial market. It is to pay $35 million for 98 per cent stake in Nigerian insurer Ensure Insurance in a push for growth in Nigeria, where many people are uninsured.
In recent time foreign insurers are banking on growing premiums as the continent develops its infrastructure and a consumer class demands protection from risk. Allianz is following the path set by British insurer Prudential which last month bought a majority stake in Zenith Life to gain access to Nigeria’s fast-growing insurance market. In the same vein South African insurer Liberty Holdings, which bought remaining shares it did not already own in Nigeria’s Total Health Trust in August 2015, said in February that it would acquire a 75 per cent stake in an unidentified Nigerian long-term insurer for 160 million rand ($12 million). France’s AXA had also acquired Nigeria’s fourth-largest insurer Mansard Insurance three years ago.
Allianz said that it would acquire the stake from UK-based holding company Greenoaks Global Holdings. Ensure Insurance offers life and non-life cover to businesses and retail clients and generated $13 million in gross premiums last year. The Allianz group has operations in 16 African countries and views the Ensure acquisition as an opportunity to tap into Nigeria’s strong demographics and economy.
“The transaction gives Allianz access to the fifth-largest insurance market in Africa and is in line with our strategy to capture long-term growth opportunities on the continent,” said Allianz Africa spokeswoman Bettina Sattler. It is also a market with significant entry barriers, which is another reason why this acquisition is a great opportunity for us.
Entering Nigeria with a team that knows the market was essential for us.” Allianz expects the acquisition to close this year and said it intends to retain Ensure’s management team. The german insurer plans to focus on property and casualty insurance, particulary underwriting industrial and speciality risk in the energy sector as well a large complex risks such as infrastructure.
“In the past two years, we have been quite visible in Nigeria, sharing our risk-management expertise in power, oil and gas, as well as cyber insurance,” Sattler said. “Now that we have a company locally … the retail sector is another growth sector for us.”
