NAIROBI, Kenya, September 4, 2012/ — Bharti Airtel
(http://www.airtel.com) , a leading telecommunications company with
operations in 17 countries across Africa, has announced that it has
entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with leading South
African financial services group, Sanlam, for the distribution of
insurance and health funding products.
This agreement covers seven African countries, on a non- exclusive
basis, in which both companies have a presence, namely Kenya, Ghana,
Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria. The agreement is aimed
at enhancing value for Airtel customers and increasing access to
insurance which will enable Sanlam to market and sell its Life,
General and Health insurance products through Airtel’s extensive
telecommunications networks in the seven countries.
Commenting on the transaction Chidi Okpala, Airtel’s Director & Africa
Head, Airtel Money, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with
Sanlam on this exciting initiative. This will offer our customers in
Africa access to a broad range of sophisticated products and services
to support their lifestyles and aspirations, and this partnership will
enable us to significantly enhance the value we offer our loyal
customers. Our customers stand to benefit from access to Sanlam’s
world-class Life, General and Health Insurance products.”
Margaret Dawes, Executive Director for Africa at Sanlam Emerging
Markets, echoes these sentiments. “We are passionate about supplying
sound financial solutions to the wider African market and are
delighted by this opportunity to provide our services and solutions
through Airtel’s network. We look forward to providing competitive
products that meet the client’s needs – drawing on our collective
years of experience and research in these markets.”
Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Bharti
Airtel Limited.
About Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading integrated telecommunications
company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.
Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 5
mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India,
the company’s product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G services, fixed
line, high speed broadband through DSL, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services
including national & international long distance services to carriers.
In Africa, the airtel brand is present in both Francophone and
Anglophone markets spanning Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda,
and Zambia. In these countries, it offers 2G, 3G mobile services.
Bharti Airtel had over 257 million customers across its operations at
the end of June 2012
About Sanlam
Sanlam is a leading diversified financial services group, originally
established as a life insurance company in 1918 and listed on the JSE
Limited (primary listing) and Namibian Stock Exchange (secondary
listing) in 1998. Its head office is in Bellville near Cape Town in
South Africa and the Group has offices throughout South Africa and
business interests elsewhere in Africa, Europe, India, the USA and
Australia.
Sanlam provides financial solutions to individual and institutional
clients. These solutions include individual, group and short-term
(general) insurance, personal financial services such as estate
planning, trusts, wills, personal loans, health management, savings
and linked products, business fitness assessment, asset management,
stock broking, employee benefits, risk management and capital market
activities.
The Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) cluster is responsible for Sanlam’s
financial business services (life assurance, general insurance and
asset management) in emerging markets outside South Africa with the
aim of ensuring sustainable delivery and growth across the various
businesses that make up this cluster. As part of the Group’s vision,
it strives to lead wealth creation in those markets. SEM has business
interests in Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia,
Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Swaziland and India.