Old Mutual’s 70 years of ‘doing great things’ in Malawi

In 1954, Old Mutual opened its first office in Blantyre, Malawi, with the appointment of a resident representative.

Prior to that, Old Mutual was administering life assurance products in Malawi, then Nyasaland, from present day Harare in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia).

From the above, one can see that Old Mutual has been an integral part of the history of the life and pension industry in Malawi.

The year 2024 marks the Platinum Jubilee as Old Mutual (Malawi) Limited is celebrating 70 years of doing business or, as per the company’s tagline, seven decades of “doing great things” in Malawi.

The Old Mutual brand traces its roots to humble beginnings in 1845 when a Scotsman named John Fairbairn established what was called The Mutual Life Assurance Society of the Cape of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa with no capital. The entity banked on the trust of like-minded individuals and belief that together they could achieve more than individually. Thus, the motto or tagline was ‘certain friend in uncertain times’.

From those beginnings, with premiums of 166 policyholders, Old Mutual has spread its footprint to the rest of the world, including Latin America, China and the Rest of Africa, making it one of the largest emerging market insurers in the world.

In 1999, Old Mutual demutualised in a move that saw Old Mutual plc listing on the London, Johannesburg, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibia stock exchanges.

Within the 70 years, we have seen three indigenous Malawians heading the entity as group chief executive officers starting with chartered insurer Osman Karim who was later succeeded by yet another seasoned insurance professional Chris Kapanga and then Edith Jiya from March 2017.

It is worth highlighting that Malawians who have been at the helm of Old Mutual Malawi have proven to be strong forces within the larger Old Mutual group as they have played critical roles beyond the borders.

For instance, in 2015 Kapanga was tasked with the establishment of Old Mutual Ghana and later he was also entrusted with the same role in Nigeria.

On the other hand, Jiya, who is credited with growing the Old Mutual (Malawi) Limited business into a formidable player in the financial services industry, will from November 1 2024 take up a new role of managing director retail mass market within the Mass and Foundation Cluster in Old Mutual’s Life Assurance Company of South Africa.

During the 70 years, Old Mutual Malawi has supported individuals, businesses and communities in various ways. It has contributed significantly to Malawi’s economic development while fostering positive societal change.

Besides having a workforce of 700 individuals, there are thousands others who are directly and indirectly benefitting from opportunities within the Old Mutual brand. Through the demutualisation process when it became a publicly-traded company on the stock exchange, Old Mutual employees and all customers were offered an opportunity to be part- owners through a share ownership arrangement.

Today, Old Mutual Malawi is a market leader across all its business segments from life assurance, asset management and pensions to unit trusts and other investments.

The company has also diversified to other services, including digital savings innovations and Mthunzi Funeral Services. Under the digital savings innovation, one is able to invest in unit trusts through either TNM Mpamba or Airtel Money mobile money platforms.

Old Mutual has also ventured into alternative investments where it is involved in agriculture by partnering some investors to grow high-value crops such as macadamia nuts. It is also into financing infrastructure development and is the biggest partner in the six-lane road projects, namely Kenyatta Road and Mzimba Street in Lilongwe.

Recently, it built student hostels for Kamuzu University of Health Sciences.

It has certainly been a long journey with some ups and downs, but I believe we can look at the positives while drawing lessons from the negatives along the way.

I can say that the seven decades of business in Malawi have been awesome for Old Mutual Malawi.

Congratulations to Old Mutual (Malawi) Limited for clocking 70. I raise my glass to more years of ‘doing great things’.