Growing Inclusive Insurance Markets: Emerging Trends and Supervision

Growing Inclusive Insurance Markets: Emerging Trends and Supervision

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Insurance softens the blows of misfortune. However, many low-income earners lack access to insurance and are thus deprived of the cushioning insurance provides although they are the ones in most need of insurance protection as they have little to fall on. For smallholder farmers, for example, besides the lack of access to insurance leaving them exposed to the varieties of the weather, it can also disincentives them from investing…

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INTO AFRICA May 2017 Edition: Africa’s Insurance Markets Uncovered

INTO AFRICA May 2017 Edition: Africa’s Insurance Markets Uncovered

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Welcome to the May 2017 edition of INTO AFRICA, the publication with fresh insight into Africa’s emerging capital markets. This edition focuses on the Insurance sector and is titled: Africa’s Insurance Markets Uncovered marks an exciting time in the sector. Please download by clicking: INTO AFRICA PUBLICATION: MAY 2017 EDITION. The insurance sector remains under-developed in Africa (it generates barely 1.7% of global insurance premiums) despite being home to 15% of the World’s population,…

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Nigeria to Check Capital of Underwriters as Recession Weighs

Nigeria to Check Capital of Underwriters as Recession Weighs

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s insurance regulator plans to audit the capital position of underwriters to ensure their ability to pay out claims as the country struggles to recover from a recession. The verification, scheduled for the first quarter, aims to protect “policyholders and beneficiaries of insurance contracts against unexpected losses,’’ the Abuja-based National Insurance Commission said in an e-mailed statement Monday. Nigeria’s economic downturn and conditions specific to the industry “have created the need for…

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Life Healthcare to Fund Alliance Deal With $756 Million Offer

Life Healthcare to Fund Alliance Deal With $756 Million Offer

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Life Healthcare Group Holdings Limited. plans to raise as much as 10.7 billion rand ($756 million) through a rights issue as the South African company seeks to reduce debt after it expanded into the U.K. market. The fully underwritten offer will cut Life Healthcare’s debt to “the appropriate level of gearing for the company to restore its investment grade credit rating,”  the Johannesburg-based owner of private hospitals said in a statement on…

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South Africa’s Rand Merchant buys 30 pct stake in UK insurer Hastings

LONDON (Reuters) – South Africa’s Rand Merchant Investment Holdings ramped up its presence in the British insurance market on Wednesday with the purchase of a 30 percent stake in Hastings, driving the UK firm’s shares to 2-1/2 month highs. Hastings, which listed just over a year ago, has made headway in a competitive sector by focusing on selling motor insurance via price comparison websites. Hastings Investco, the firm’s main shareholder, and other individual shareholders are…

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LeapFrog is Raising $800 Million for Africa Deals

LeapFrog is Raising $800 Million for Africa Deals

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – LeapFrog Investments Ltd. plans to raise $800 million for its latest fund as the private-equity firm seeks stakes in African banks, insurance brokers and payment companies to tap into rising demand among low-income consumers. Overseas Private Investment Corp., the Washington-based development financing unit of the U.S. government, has approved an investment of as much as $200 million in the fund, the buyout company’s third, said Karima Olokun-Ola, a partner at LeapFrog…

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LeapFrog secures a majority stake in GoodLife Pharmacy, Kenya

LeapFrog secures a majority stake in GoodLife Pharmacy, Kenya

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – LeapFrog Investments, a leading specialist investor in emerging markets, today announced its acquisition of a US$22mn majority stake in Kenya’s GoodLife Pharmacy, the largest direct investment in the East African retail pharmacy sector to date. LeapFrog will now build on its financial services specialism by diversifying its private equity investments into a closely linked sector – healthcare. This will develop a platform that combines both payers and providers, thereby…

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