African reinsurers meet to sharpen skills

Kgomotso Molelekeng
Correspondent | Sunday May 26, 2013 00:00

The training was held in conjunction with Tanzania National Reinsurance Company (TanRe) which brought experiences from the East African market while FMRE has a wealth of experience within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market.

The two seasoned reinsurers brought expertise and fusion of ideas that should be of great benefit to the local market. The training focused on specialist lines, including professional indemnity, directors and officers' liability, and medical malpractice. FMRE P&C managing director, Ian Taonesa, told Mmegi business that the basis for this year's training was prompted by the fact that the specialist lines market is still evolving in Africa while it is more common in the developed North. 

'With globalisation, these covers are now pertinent since information, services and labour no longer know any boundaries and we need to be operating at the same level in Africa,' he said.

Samuel Rimai, the principal officer for FMRE P&C Botswana, stated that as a company they strive to bring up subjects that are topical and relevant to the market and have been holding trainings in countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Botswana since 2008.

'FMRE P&C is a continental player and is guided by its vision of becoming a dominant provider of reinsurance services across Africa.

'It is the company's mandate to assist in the development of the markets in which it operates. This comes from the realisation that knowledge is potential power. By conducting regular and focused training, the company will aid intellectual capital development and catalyse insurance growth in its various markets in Africa,' he said.

One of the central objectives of the training is capacity building because in most of the countries where FMRE P&C conducts business, there is a considerable reliance on external technical assistance.  He emphasised on the need for regular and relevant training to equip brokers and marketers with skills that enable them to handle insurance risks peculiar to their own circumstances. 

FMRE P&C is a reinsurance company whose business is guided by the building blocks of their identity. The company endeavours to provide solid financial security to its clients and superior financial returns to its shareholders through the provision of world-class reinsurance and related services.  Friday marked the end of the training and participants where awarded with certificates of attendance.