Building foundation, accelerating growth
As home to six of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies[1], Africa is a dynamic and diverse market that presents exciting opportunities for both international and local private enterprises.
With nearly 60 percent of Africa’s population under the age of 25[2], the region is primed for accelerated digitisation and growth. Prudential is well-placed to tap the vast potential of Africa with the local talent we have nurtured and our strong experience in growing a successful business in emerging economies.
Nurturing local talent
From our early days in the region, we have focused on developing local leaders and managers to drive and grow the business. This commitment to nurture local talent has yielded good results.
Today, all eight of our country-level CEOs are Africans who have deep knowledge of Africa’s culture, society and insurance market dynamics. We also have a growing number of country-level senior managers who are Africans, many of whom have been part of the Prudential journey in Africa for more than five years.
We adopted the same approach when setting up our Boards for Africa. We were deliberate in recruiting local directors who can contribute to the business with their broad local connections and knowledge, and are fully committed to the success of Prudential and its people.
Wilf Blackburn, Regional CEO of Insurance Growth Markets, Prudential Corporation Asia said as the African market is inhomogeneous and diverse, having local teams with deep understanding of the culture and customers is critical to success. “In Africa today, we have a strong pool of local talent who are passionate and driven. Just as they are committed to the success of Prudential, we are committed to help them attain greater success by providing them the opportunities to grow professionally and personally within the organisation,” said Mr Blackburn.
Drawing from our long-standing experience in Asia
As we build a strong local team as the foundation for the business, we are drawing from our experience and learnings in Asia to accelerate growth in Africa.
The growth drivers of Africa today are very similar to that of Asia. The continent is characterised by a rapidly expanding middle class, growing demand for high quality healthcare offerings, the rise of the millennials, and accelerating digital adoption. Prudential has tapped on these trends to build a very successful franchise of close to 100 years in Asia, and we are confident of doing the same in Africa at a faster pace.
Africa is a continent of opportunity for us. It is an important part of Prudential’s growth story and we are committed to Africa’s long-term growth. To demonstrate this, Prudential has relocated the regional African office from London to Nairobi since 1 May 2021.
“With the relocation of our African regional office to Nairobi, we will be able to provide our businesses with greater support and be closer to our various stakeholders in Africa. This will enable us to bring in health and wealth solutions that can better meet the rising expectations of African consumers and help them get the most out of life,” says Mr Blackburn.
[1] IMF
[2] UN