Ensuring insurance for growing middle class

Q+A: Bernard Asso Abouo

Editor's note: Multinational companies and the nouveau Ivorian middle class turn to La Loyale for their insurance needs. An experienced local player, La Loyale created the Globus network, which provides a window for comprehensive international insurance. CEO of La Loyale and co-founder of Globus, Bernard Asso Abouo, sees a growing market ready to be seized and shares his vision with The Business Report's David Lozano

How does Globus help international businesses?

Globus makes insurance easy for multinationals working in several African countries.

Instead of negotiating insurance contracts for each country, Globus streamlines this long-winded process by offering a single point of access for insurance coverage in up to 43 different countries, including all life and non-life products. This is done through a centralized kit from which businesses can easily understand the range of insurance coverage they'll enjoy.

Can you give us a recent history of Globus?

In less than a year, we have secured insurer representatives in eight African countries. La Loyale administers this network, which I founded with partners from Cameroon.

How important is Cte d'Ivoire to the industry?

Cte d'Ivoire has the highest insurance penetration rate of francophone Central and West Africa, and we are No 2 in the entire region.

Today we are experiencing a revival, which will spill over to the region, with plans to expand in Benin and Mali.

How do you market insurance to a population that is unfamiliar with it?

When we first launched La Loyale, our leading product was life insurance for funerals, which we marketed under the name "Yako", meaning "compassion" in the Baoul language. Ivorians understand this word as being closely related to sympathy for the departed.

We have found that, in the absence of government-mandated insurance laws, local transliteration of insurance coverage helps in promoting a complex concept to new customers.

What is your most profitable product?

Our most lucrative product is automotive insurance, which wasn't always the case because there were too many accidents, making premiums unattractive. Fire insurance has also become very lucrative.

Where is insurance market growth coming from?

A growing Ivorian middle class wants to protect their assets and save for the future. This growth has led us to consider regional expansion, as well as invite future cooperative possibilities with investors.

(China Daily 08/08/2016 page26)