Liberty Group enters East African Market

March 25 - Following in the steps of other major insurance companies that have bought into existing operations or opened their own branches, Liberty Group announced that it would be expanding into the East African market by establishing an office in Nairobi, Kenya.

Although Kenya has recently experienced political upheaval, Liberty Group is confident that the move is a right one for the company. In a statement, the deputy chief executive officer of Liberty's Johannesburg office said: "Nairobi will be the hub of our East African business despite all the issues they're having".

The Nairobi office will be the predecessor to another in Lagos, Nigeria, which will be the headquarters for Liberty's expansion into Ghana, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. Products on offer will include life, health, property and casualty insurance, while Liberty will also expand money management services into other countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Liberty has already established several offices in southern African countries, including Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and Botswana.

The company's move comes after several other major South African insurance companies before them. Old Mutual is considered one of East Africa's largest fund managers and Sanlam has also established a strong presence for itself in the region after it bought into one of Kenya's largest local insurers, Pan Africa Insurance Group. 

The presence of four of South Africa's top insurance companies is expected to generate price changes as competition toughens in an already tight market, where local companies operate shoulder to shoulder with a number of larger international companies.

Liberty, with a net income of $364-million last year, is considered one of the most stable insurance companies in South Africa.