Sanlam Namibia has announced plans to position itself to write business from Namibia’s emerging oil and gas sector by reopening its Lüderitz branch.
The town of Lüderitz is expected be the centre of economic activity with government having held talks with Total Energies and Shell, who discovered oil off the coast of Namibia, to base their operations at Luderitz and not Walvis Bay.
The CEO of the insurance giant, Tertius Stears, said the planned reopening is in anticipation of the new customer base that will need servicing due to the recent oil and gas activity in the southern town.
“I think if you work in a country like Namibia, you only realize how vast and far we have to travel sometimes to see our colleagues and, most importantly, our clients. We will be reopening our branch in Lüderitz not only in anticipation of the oil and gas that is literally going to pump out of the sea but also in anticipation of a lot of clients that will be there,” he said.
This announcement coincides with Stears announcing that Sanlam Namibia’s assets had increased by N$500 million to N$4.6 billion in 2023 from the N$4.1 billion reported in 2022.
The insurance company forecasts paying out nearly N$22 billion in policy liabilities over the next few years.
Sanlam Namibia CEO, Tertius Stears, stated that the company has been performing well with its capital being 11.3 times more than the legal minimum requirement.
“And at this point in time, as you can see, the minimum term is one time more than the capital, and we are up 11 times, 12 times over the last few years, showing that we can really take on further liabilities,” he said on Monday.
Stears further explained that the insurance giant also paid out nearly N$120 million for funeral claims alone, over N$100 million for other types of claims (like life insurance payouts), and more than N$12 million in cashbacks to clients who hadn’t made any claims in a while in 2023.
“But we currently pay out 97% of our funeral claims and 81% of savings claims within seven hours. And to prove to clients that in this very dire time or time of need, we are then trying to turn your claims around as quickly as possible,” he said.
