The Enterprise Group PLC has expanded its business through the commencement of its life insurance business in Nigeria.

The group has also acquired Acacia Health Insurance, pending approval from the National Health Insurance Authority.
The acquisition of Acacia would mark an entry into the health insurance business which has been in the plans of the group in the last seven year.

Addressing the media on the side lines of the 11th annual general meeting of the Enterprise Group, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Keli Gadzekpo, said “we have secured our license to start operating in Nigeria and we started operations in March 2021.

“We have also acquired Acacia health which then makes enterprise enter the health insurance business. This is one of the things we have been wanting to achieve in the last seven years,” he stated.

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Nigeria business

He said although it was early days yet, its Nigeria business was showing signs of good prospects.

On why the choice of Nigeria, he said “the story of Nigeria starts with the story of Ghana. Enterprise Life started in Ghana 20 years back and over the years, we have built a strong model in life insurance specifically the retail side of life insurance.

“The entry into Nigeria fits into our strategy of expanding to West Africa which started with Gambia which is going very well.

“The other reason is the potential of Nigeria as the biggest market in Africa. So if you have the Nigeria potential and the effectiveness of our model and experience, then you can understand the future prospect of our entry into Nigeria and there are strong signs of success,” he explained.

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Health insurance business

The Group CEO also noted that the decision to enter the health insurance business was to offer its customers and clients a one stop shop where they could get all their insurance needs.

“At Enterprise, we set ourselves a lofty objective of being relevant to all those who encounter us. We want to be relevant from what we call ‘cradle to grave’.

“We want a situation where once you come into our domain, you experience the entire value chain of risk mitigation so we decided some seven years ago that as part our growth into the future, we will create an ecosystem which will be able to satisfy that cradle to grave mantra,” he stated.


Financial performance

The group’s net income grew by 18.72 per cent, from GH¢714 million to GH¢848 million.

Mr Gadzekpo, said this was achieved with all its subsidiaries returning good growth at the top line.

He said the group’s net insurance premiums also increased by 21.6 per cent, with trustee’s fee income also growing by 31 per cent. “Driving efficiencies across the group is critical to free up resources for investment in product innovation and brand building while improving returns.

“We continued to make progress in reducing our structural costs across administration and processes. Our structural costs as  percentage of total income declined for the third consecutive year, reflecting our ability to control costs even as we grow our businesses,” he explained.

He said total costs to net income ratio improved from 81 per cent in 2019 to 79 per cent in 2020.


Future plans

Commenting of the Group’s future plans, the Chairman of the Board Mr Trevor Trefgarne, said the management’s strategic plan for 2020-2024 was put to the test in its first year due to the pandemic.

“New business generation was not surprisingly slower than anticipated, however, I am glad to report that the key thrusts and pillars of the strategic plan are all relevant and responsive to the times in which we live.

“It is heartwarming to mention that both our Ghana insurance companies have leadership positions in the industry after the non-life business ascended to the number one slot at the end of 2020 with a market share of 13.4 per cent, in line with one of our key strategic imperatives.

“We will continue to review whatever steps may be needed to keep our businesses competitive and profitable,” he said.