Sanlam Enters Ugandan Insurance Market

April 23 - Last month, Sanlam announced that it intended investing up to 20% of its R3.5 billion excess capital in Africa.

This week, South Africa's second biggest insurance giant announced that it has opened a life unit in the east African country of Uganda.

The company hopes to tap into the country's fast growing life insurance market and expand its African footprint at the same time.

80% of Ugandans are employed in the agricultural sector, and Sanlam is hoping to target this workforce.

"The projected economic growth of three to five percent in 2009 and 2010, the recent discovery of oil fields and Uganda's developing democracy mean that the need for a well insured population is increasing rapidly," said the Chief Executive of Sanlam, Johan van Zyl.

The person to head the new life unit in Uganda will be Marguerite de Waal who comes from Sanlam Developing Markets.

De Waal will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the new Ugandan business.

Sanlam has made great strides in the African market and already operates in countries such as Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Nigeria and Ghana.

Another group eyeing the African insurance potential is Liberty Africa, a subsidiary of Liberty Holdings.

The group said in its latest annual report that it saw Nigeria and Ghana as possibilities of new growth prospects.

The group believes that the South African life insurance market is currently saturated.