BANK OF AFRICA launches bancassurance in collaboration with Alliance Life and Alliance General Insurance

DAR ES SALAAM, December 8th 2021- BANK OF AFRICA, one of the leading Pan African multinational bank, has on Wednesday launched its bancassurance services in collaboration with Alliance life and Alliance General Insurance. The product dubbed “BIMA KWANZA” is set to bring changes in the insurance market in Tanzania while aiming at promoting financial inclusion and making the bank as a one stop center for all its clients’ needs.

Speaking during the launch Mr. Adam Mihayo, the Managing Director and CEO for BANK OF AFRICA-TANZANIA explained, “We are happy to launch the product because Bancassurance is becoming an important factor to support the overall growth of the financial services industry in many markets. Partnership between banks and insurance companies has significant benefits to clients as it enables them to get an expanded products and services suite, and also helps from a risk coverage perspective for potential default situations in case unforeseen occurrences happen to them.

I applaud the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority and the Bank of Tanzania for issuing the Bancassurance guidelines for banks and financial institutions in 2019, highlighting that they demonstrate a positive collaboration and development by the two regulators to enable growth and expansion in this segment through a coordinated and regulated manner.

As part of the policy for the 6th Phase Government under our President Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, the government is keen to see every Tanzanian has access to financial services. In this context we are pleased to introduce to you “BIMA KWANZA”. This will not only help our clients in securing their funds and wealth, but also their peace of mind and thus their wellbeing” remarked Adam.

Speaking at the launch event, Mr. Byford Mutimusakwa, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Life Assurance Limited, said that, we are excited about BIMA KWANZA milestone in which we are an active partner. We have partnered with BOA Bank in developing innovative products and winning strategies for the BOA bancassurance distribution channel. Through this partnership we are going to offer exceptionally and uniquely value adding life insurance solutions to our mutual clients. All this is encapsulated in our mission Statement ie “To be the Leading Life Assurance Provider that provides superior products and services for the benefit of Tanzanians”. Our products include Group Life products, Credit Life products, embedded products and Individual life products such as Education Policies, Keyman Policies, Protection and investment policies.

The Alliance Life Partnership with BOA Bank will enable the Bank to become a one Stop shop for banking and insurance services through the branch network of BOA Bank. This will give BOA Bank a competitive advantage in the market.

This is clearly a Win-Win partnership for all stakeholders. This will surely increase insurance penetration in Tanzania.

Mr Byford Mutimusakwa further said, Alliance Life Assurance Limited is a leading life insurance company and one the fastest growing life Insurance companies in Tanzania. We have been in the market for 23 years. Some of the large claims that we have paid include Tshs 2.9 billion (2019); Tshs 1 billion (2021) several claims between Tshs 500 million and Tshs 1 billion. This goes to prove our financial muscle and our commitment to service delivery. This is aptly captured in our values which are Integrity, commitment, speed and passion.

Speaking at the launch event, the Alliance General, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Rajiv Kumar has said that Banca distribution channel has become a strong channel in order to make insurance products accessible to a large number of Tanzanians which aims to improve the penetration of insurance in all regions of the country.

This channel has also helped increase employment opportunities for young graduates. Through the partnership, Bank of Africa - Alliance Insurance Corporation Ltd, is now able to provide a one stop solution for both banking and general insurance products General to its customers across the branch network. For Building an omnichannel system like this, we have worked on creating a joint team of both Bank of Africa and Alliance Insurance Corporation Ltd employees, who are empowered to bring together all the functions involved in the effort in an agile way.

This new team will work on a target model that both the Bank of Africa and Alliance Insurance, use this as a means of supporting bold moves and providing full transparency. In addition, the team is empowered to constantly prioritize and adjust initiatives based on continuous feedback gathered along the way from functions such as analytics, campaign design, and management.

There are incredible growth opportunities for bancassurance, however, the key to capturing them lies in digital and analytics capabilities that will enable personalization, a superior customer experience, and an omnichannel offering. Customers want a solution and not just a insurance product, our aim will be to ensure customers experience hassle free by providing a number of value additions to client's insurance program including easy access for claims reporting, regular advises, follow-up and settlement.

The Principal officer for BANK OF AFRICA TANZANIA MS. Eva Kakwale also added “Another advantage is the leverage we have with our network, customers can now access insurance services in all the locations that BANK OF AFRICA is located all the way from Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma and all the strategic locations in major cities in the 11 regions that we are present in Tanzania.

Bank of Africa Tanzania will now become your one stop shop. The bancassurance distribution model allows our customers to get their insurance products along with an amalgamation of other financial services under one roof. Insurance used to be the missing piece of the puzzle which now Banc assurance completes. There are many more advantages to this but as a bank we offer our assurance of the best value for money”.