Allianz Group has announced the signing of an agreement to acquire an 8% stake in Africa’s leading reinsurer Africa Re. Under the terms of the agreement, the total cash consideration payable at closing would amount to $81 million (or 69 million euros)
This transaction makes Allianz Group one of the largest shareholders in Africa Re.
According to Niran Peiris, Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, responsible for Global Insurance Lines & Anglo Markets, Reinsurance, Middle East, Africa, noted that through cooperation and innovation in various areas, Allianz and Africa Re aim to jointly support insurance penetration in Africa and the economic development of the continent.
In his words:
“Having identified Africa as one of the future growth markets, we continue to invest step-by-step in the continent. This investment in Africa Re is a major milestone for Allianz’s long-term growth strategy in Africa.”
Reacting to the new development, Corneille Karekezi, Africa Re’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said the partnership with Allianz Group, a reliable and strong partner with a global network, particularly in agriculture and the emerging field of cyber insurance, will definitely strengthen Africa Re’s capacity to offer its clients services of higher quality.
Karekezi also revealed that the partnership is built on a mutual business support that will enable co-operation in areas of reinsurance, business development, sharing of best practices, risk management tools, as well as training and technical support, especially in emerging areas and underserved markets.
About Allianz Group
The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers with more than 88 million retail and corporate customers.
It is one of the world’s largest investors, managing over 650 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers while its asset managers Allianz Global Investors and PIMCO manage an additional 1.4 trillion euros of third-party assets.
About Africa Re
Africa Re, founded in 1976 by the member states of the African Union and African Development Bank (ADB), has operations across the continent. It has a diversified set of shareholders, including 44 African states (35 percent), over 110 African insurance and reinsurance companies (34 percent), the ADB (8 percent) and non-African investors (23 percent).