The venture is in the discussion phase with four or five MTN national operating companies and is aimed at market entry, Botha says from Johannesburg. The markets under consideration are in West, Central and Southern Africa.
Launched in 2017, aYo offers hospital and life cover in Zambia, Uganda, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. It had 6m active policies at the end of 2020.
The boards of insurers need the ‘recovery mechanism’ provided by reinsurers to be able to pay major claims, Botha says.
Botha, who was previously at the helm of Stangen Life Insurance, took over as CEO of aYo in November 2020 and inherited the venture’s micro-insurance strategy. He sees the firm’s scope widening beyond the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of insurance products.
“We can’t become stale in an existing market” as competitors will quickly copy products, he says. “The opportunity is bigger than micro-insurance.”
For now, the
There's more to this story
Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Africa. Unlocked.
cancel anytime
Already a a subscriber Sign In
