Nico Holdings plc has unveiled plans to deepen its investment footprint across Africa, including taking full ownership of its Zambia insurance business and securing majority control in Mozambique.
The group’s managing director Vizenge Kumwenda said this on Thursday in Lilongwe at a cocktail party the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed conglomerate hosted for its customers and pointed out that the shift marks a return to growth after years of caution.
He said: “We were the first [Malawian] company to go regional. We went to Zambia where we set up a general insurance company in 1997.
“Between 2011 and 2012, we invested in several countries in the region. However, because of the challenges we had faced at that time we kind of retreated.”
Kumwenda further stated that the group never fully withdrew and still holds strategic positions in the region.
“But regardless, we are in Zambia where we have a general insurance company, which we own with 51 percent. We are also in Mozambique where we have a life insurance company and we own 34 percent.
“We also have an investment in a general insurance company in Uganda where we want to increase our stake to about 10 percent” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the clients, Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation senior credit risk manager Loti Nyasulu said he was impressed with Nico Holdings’ vision for growth.
“We are partners with Nico Group’s subsidiary NBS Bank,” he said.
Nico Group was established in 1971and traded as Nico Insurance Company Limited providing short-term insurance and was the first company to list on the MSE in 1996.
