'Building relationships is key to growth'

26 Nov 2013 - by Joy Orlek

Marine insurance
specialist Associated
Marine will pursue
a partnership
approach in its growth plans for
Africa, a key future focus for the
group going forward, says chief
operating officer Mike Brews.
It’s a philosophy that has
worked for parent company
Santam and Sanlam which
have operated through business
partnerships with companies
in various African countries.
“It’s a case of finding key
strategic partners and investing
knowledge and capital into those
companies so that we can grow
the business base for them and
us.”
It’s worked in the past,
says Brews. “Anything those
insurance companies can’t
manage in their own portfolio
comes to us for expertise or
capacity – and that network has
been expanding.”
There are a growing number
of enquiries coming from Africa,
according to Brews,
but the region’s reliance on
South Africa is diminishing
as they develop their own
international relationships.
“Which is why for South African
companies to grow in Africa they
need to develop relationships
with the locals. You can’t
rely on business
coming in through
SA brokers and
insurers so a
big focus for
us is to build
relationships in
those countries
directly.”
And these
relationships are also key
to understanding the local
regulations, he added, providing
insights into legal and
regulatory issues.
“It’s all about
communication
and
understanding
the risks. And we
find our clients’
knowledge of
the cover
required and risks involved is
improving – they’re far more
aware of the risks and are more
likely to insure against those
risks.”
In terms of
business growth,
the weaker
rand appears
to be creating
a favourable
business
environment for
the insurance
industry.
“The rand
dollar exchange
rate is helping
our exports so
were seeing an increase in export
turnover which has a positive
knock-on effect for us. Imports
on the other hand haven’t
decreased but the value is higher
which also has an impact on our
business and growth.”