CIC Group hails cooperatives platform

CIC Insurance Group outgoing chief executive officer (CEO) Nelson Kuria says they will use the cooperatives platform to establish one of the largest micro insurance providers in Malawi that will cater for those usually sidelined.

CIC Insurance Group—the third largest insurance firm in Kenya out of 46 and the largest insurance cooperative in Africa—has teamed up with Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Muscco) to establish CIC Cooperative Insurance Malawi.

The shareholding structure for the new insurance firm, which has been given a certificate by Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), awaiting a licence, is as follows; Muscco and cooperatives and CIC Group will hold 49 percent each with the remaining two percent will be held by independent participants, according to Muscco CEO Sylvester Kadzola.

Currently, the two groups have invested an initial capital of K125 million, with K50 million and K75 million for general and life insurance respectively.

“We need a lot more capital to succeed. In this business, we need more capital to have a stronger financial muscle,” he said in Blantyre last week at a sensitisation meeting with cooperatives from the Southern Region on the establishment of the new insurance firm.

Kuria said the establishment of CIC Cooperative Insurance Malawi is a “miracle” that cooperatives can achieve.

“We shall utilise the cooperative platform to succeed. This is an organisation that is yours; it will be coming to you,” he said to members of cooperatives.

“We are ethical because we believe in honesty and integrity. We want to bring insurance with a difference governed by the people and for the people. We will bring revolutionary products that meet your needs.”

The participants were, among other topics, enlightened on the role of insurance in cooperative development, life and general insurance products and services. n