Barclays Africa Group has announced that it is rebranding the Absa Life insurance operations in Botswana to Barclays Life, with the possibility that the banking group will do the same to its South African insurance business.
The brand change will enable the insurer to
distribute insurance products through the larger Barclays bank outlets.
Lanz Zulu, managing executive of Absa Financial Services Africa Holdings, said: "We believe by operating under one particular brand we are able to provide holistic solutions to both our banking and insurance customers."
South Africa’s Absa Group was renamed Barclays Africa Group on August 2 2013, after the banking group acquired eight Barclays Africa operations in an R18.3bn ($1.7 bn) deal.
Absa acquired operations in Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
"In Botswana we had an Absa Life business brand and a Barclays brand. We have now decided to have only one brand in Botswana," Zulu explained.
He added that operating under the Barclays brand, Barclays Life Botswana would be better positioned to offer a wider range of risk and investment products, with new endowment and education products also due to be launched later this year.
Absa Life Botswana was the third-largest life insurer in Botswana, with 130,000 policyholders and a 5 percent market share.
It was expected to produce gross premium income of R177.5m ($17.1m) this year. It was adding over 2,500 policies a month and expected to maintain strong growth in the medium term.
Zulu explained that such a change in Zambia was unnecessary, as the insurance unit there was already trading as Barclays Life.
Last year Absa acquired Mozambique insurance firm Global Alliance, and Zulu said the business would continue under that name, as it was a strong brand.
He would not be drawn on whether the South African Absa Life business would also be rebranded to Barclays Life, but did say that such a change was not imminent.
In the six months to the end of June, the Absa Financial Services division, which deals in insurance, grew headline earnings by 5 percent to R671m ($64.8m).
