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SWAN Insurance, a Mauritian company that bought off a majority stake in Diamond Insurance, has been launched in Zambia.

The launch event was held at Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka on Tuesday night was graced by
Pensions and Insurance Authority registrar Martin Libinga.

SWAN Group chief executive officer Louis Rivalland told the guests about the exciting expansion drive embarked on by the Group which saw its penetration onto the Zambian market.

"165 years ago, SWAN was founded around important values, and one of them has always been putting people at the heart of our strategy to drive success. SWAN is currently the leader in terms of non-banking financial services provider in Mauritius, with a history that goes back to the mid-19th century. Our portfolio ranges from insurance solutions, both non-life and life, to investment instruments that have been designed by our multidisciplinary team of industry professionals," Rivalland said according to a statement issued by Rideve PR. "After years of increasing cross-border activities essentially with the Eastern African Community markets, SWAN embarked on the exciting journey of seizing investment opportunities and creating new markets in Africa, after having successfully established our presence outside Mauritius in Seychelles & Comoros. We are already in Rwanda, South Africa and hope to close in Mozambique before year end. We bring capital but as importantly, solutions adapted to the local financial, non-banking sector. In 2018, the Group activities had brought a turnover of USD 360 million."

With SWAN Insurance, he said, "our African footprint is taking a new and thrilling turn, indeed".

"Zambia is a natural choice for us, given its long tradition of democracy and political stability, its strong public institutions, a free and open market and an economic environment which fosters investments," Rivalland said.

On the Zambian insurance sector, he said the industry has "a truly important growth potential" as the country has one of the largest land mass in the sub-Saharan region and home to a population of 16 million.

"…and (it) is one of the most urbanized areas of the continent.

We will undoubtedly benefit from the existing infrastructure and human capital to develop our sector here, alongside the regulator and other stakeholders. However, we do recognize that the challenge that goes with developing operations abroad and in Zambia is an important one, especially since our investment in Zambia now and later, is for the very long term," Rivalland said.

"Drawing from our international experience and internal capacities, we shall gradually invest in other activities in Zambia, particularly those where SWAN is a leader such as life insurance, wealth management, fund management, and pension fund administration. This is in line with our Zambian mandate, ladies and gentlemen, and as early as this year we are looking at bringing new solutions and services to this market. I wish to conclude that SWAN Insurance is a first small step in Zambia, an act of faith in a jurisdiction which is a natural choice to us."

And Libinga congratulated Diamond Insurance for giving birth to SWAN.

He said government wishes to see the establishment of more insurance firms in Zambia.

Libinga was, however, sad to note that some firms were paying clients in installments and made mention that the government wanted entities that can settle claims in full.

SWAN Zambia board chairman Larry Kalala said the company's commitment to Zambia will bear fruit in the coming years.

Kalala said SWAN, who acquired a majority stake in Diamond Insurance, has strengthened the company's capital and human resource.​