Focussing on finance – Hollard Insurance Company celebrates 20 years of success in Mozambique

We are always challenged to look for better ways to respond to our customers’ needs and to provide the products that will become increasingly relevant in the future.

It is the cornerstone of the country’s insurance sector. It has recently become the largest insurer by global earnings for nearly every line of business. Recent acquisitions and innovations make Hollard Mozambique Insurance Company further expand its reach in the Southern Africa territory.

Hollard arrived in Mozambique at the turn of the millennium. As it grew, it helped build a Mozambican insurance market. Celebrating 20 years, CEO Henri Mittermayer revisits the organization’s history and highlights key facts.

With a Mozambican public not knowing much about the existence and importance of these services, Hollard’s first customers were large multinational companies, which had legal obligations and internal policies to insure their assets and employees.

In order to positively influence the landscape, over the years Hollard made a major investment in education about the importance of adhering to insurance services. “It is important to note that it was not until 2005, when banks began to offer loans and boost the purchasing power of the middle class, that private customers began to seek to insure their assets”.

Hollard’s innovation and improved service offering also had a positive impact on the private sector. “When we arrived, the trend was to offer insurance policies separately for each asset. So, we implemented the “ multi plural one-stop-shop ” model, and with this, our customers could secure several goods in a single contract customized to the real needs of their business.”

After 20 years, Henri Mittermayer makes a satisfactory assessment of the growth of the insurance market and the adhesion of individuals. Although at some point, issues such as natural disasters, instability and the economic crisis have affected the country’s growth and consequently a slowdown in the development of the insurance market.

Looking to the future, Henri Mittermayer points out, as one of Hollard’s main purposes, the promotion of financial education and the use of insurance to ensure that more companies and, particularly, individual customers can grow economically and have their assets insured. “We will continue to invest in education through partnerships with several commercial banks and other agents. But, equally, we will produce alternative and interactive books and materials such as educational games.”

We are building a business of true stature and look forward to contributing to the vibrant Mozambican insurance market in our new capacity.

Energy, oil and gas insurance

Insuring the future

In Mozambique’s fast-growing energy, oil and gas industry, Hollard is the leading insurance provider in terms of services. Companies such as Total Energie and Sasol are some of those covered by Hollard Mozambique since the beginning of its activities. As there are strict requirements in this industry for contracting insurance companies, Hollard Mozambique is one of the few in the Mozambican market with the financial and technical capacity to operate.

The policies offered by Hollard to companies in the energy, oil and gas industry cover infrastructure, goods and employees. And due to the instabilities registered in the north of the country some compensation has already taken place. “It is important to note that, after the terrorist attacks that took place in the North of the country, we are the insurance company that was responsible for most of the damages that the companies suffered. And we are still committed to assisting companies with whatever they need over time,” said Bukhosi Sibanda, Managing Director.

Looking to the future, with the acquisition of International Commercial and Engineering Insurance (ICE) the ability to respond to customers in the oil and gas business globally will grow, as will technical capacity. Locally, within a year it is expected that, with the start of the exploration of natural resources, the insurance market and the economy will see significant growth.

At the forefront of farmer protection

Israel Muchena, executive director at Hollard Mozambique Insurance Company, was born in Zimbabwe. A Farmer’s son, he learned early to work the land to get food for his sustenance. Before arriving in Mozambique, he finished higher education in his country and worked at the reinsurer Zimbabwe-Re. The good winds blew in his life and had a job opportunity in South Africa. There, while working in the agricultural insurance sector, he took a master’s degree in Social Development Sciences at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. It was only in 1999 that he got a job at Hollard Mozambique Insurance Company.

He never forgot that he is a farmer. The exposure to constant risks made Israel Muchena understand the need to protect farmers through an insurance company that can cover the damages of any disaster for the producer. Furthermore, in his studies on development, he understood that the financial sector did not provide the necessary assistance to farmers, thus excluding the majority of the population whose livelihood is based on agriculture.

It was in this context that, in 2012, together with the insurance company Hollard, in partnership with the World Bank, he developed a strategy that aimed to use financial services to allow farmers to protect themselves against the dangers of climatic events. This is a project that has secured 40,000 small cotton farmers through a US$100,000 fund financed by the World Bank.

Hollard’s goal is to cover 75,000 farmers a year from now and by 2025 to reach the 100,000 mark. However, it is known that there are 4 million farmers in the country and Hollard says it is prepared to insure them all. “If we increase the number of insureds and the government covers a part of the farmers, the model becomes increasingly viable, because there is greater dispersion of risk”.

At the moment, Hollard is the only insurance company that provides this type of service for the agricultural sector. The organization has advanced technological tools to map the location of farms. There are partnerships with satellite service providers that provide timely information, which is important for knowing the climatic conditions in the production areas on a daily basis. This is an effort that the company has been making to guarantee safety and reliability to its customers, providing a quality service.

The horizon, with responsibility and humor

Hollard Mozambique Insurance Company has always been at the forefront of offering creative technical insurance, oriented towards customer service. The company’s inventive nature, and willingness to try new things, is what separates this industry leader from the competition.

Having just acquired International Commercial and Engineering Insurance (ICE) and thus increasing its portfolio of Clients in the energy, oil and gas sector, Hollard conquers the position of largest insurance company in Mozambique by a significant margin.

In April 2022, Hollard Mozambique Insurance Company also entered into a partnership agreement with local Fintech consultancy Askari, to launch a digital strategy that will aim to digitize the entire process of mandatory third-party car insurance for fleets of trucks and cross-border tourist vehicles, making the process smoother for consumers and eliminating potential fraudulent practices. All foreign vehicles traveling to Mozambique must have third-party insurance coverage underwritten by a Mozambican insurance company.

Maputo is a massive transit point for South African commodities such as chromium and coal. “This transition to a digital distribution system represents a major technological leap and could not have come at a better time, especially as we expect to see an increase in cross-border traffic as the world continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Gary. Wild, CEO of Askari.

The main benefit for clients here, he indicates, is the elimination of wait times, where units were forced to exchange cash and hard copies of policy documents. “Now, everything happens digitally, in real time”, he notes.

This product is delivered as part of Hollard’s “win-win-win” philosophy. For CEO Henri Mittermayer, this step is proof that Hollard Moçambique Seguros remains faithful to its objective. “Hollard is leading the way in differentiating and creating different insurance packages. It’s a support solution (a financial one) for different market sectors and different market levels within those industries.”

And Hollard Mozambique Insurance Company, as part of the Hollard Group, continues to focus on educating people about insurance. “When we talk about training people and companies, we talk about ensuring a better future. If you go about it every day with this clear purpose of enabling people and companies in Mozambique to secure a better future, it is very easy to develop and contribute to the growth of the economy. The results then come naturally as a by-product of us following our purpose,” he said.

With a modest economic recovery underway in the country, and the World Bank expecting GDP growth of around 5.5% between 2022 and 2024, Hollard Mozambique is prepared to experience greater demand for its specialized services. “In the future, our sense of responsibility as a market leader will continue to be taken very seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, there has to be humor and smiles, but we take what we do very seriously”, concludes Mittermayer.

Issue 74 Jul/Aug | Download.