Nigerian entrance for AXA
Near the end of last year, AXA announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of Assur Africa Holdings, which in turn holds a 77-per-cent stake in composite insurance company Mansard Insurance plc (Mansard). The move represents AXA’s entrance into the insurance market in Nigeria and a further strengthening of its African presence; it already has operations in Cameroon, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal and Algeria.
Denis Duverne, deputy CEO at AXA, commented: “This acquisition is a unique opportunity for AXA to enter the largest African economy with leading positions in all business lines and to get exposure to the fast-growing Nigerian retail insurance market. AXA will benefit locally from the knowledge of an experienced and successful management team and from a profitable platform. Thus, this transaction represents a further step in our acceleration strategy, which is at the heart of our Ambition AXA plan, and is in line with our belief that insurance is instrumental to foster economic development, by providing communities with protection and risk management expertise.”
Nigeria has the third-largest insurance market in Africa, which is highly underpenetrated with a premium-to-GDP ratio of 0.4 per cent. This represents strong growth potential, particularly with the country’s healthy economy and developing middle class, and government initiatives such as mandatory motor and group life insurance have added to its positive outlook.