Asia
Raffles Square, Singapore (1933)
Prudential has a rich and extensive history in Asia and has maintained a continuous presence in the region for more than 80 years.
In 1923 Prudential began its first overseas life operation in Calcutta, India, with the first policy being sold to a tea planter in Assam. General insurance agencies were appointed in China and the Philippines throughout the 1920s, while the life insurance business soon expanded to Malaya (1924), Singapore (1931) and Hong Kong (1964).
Prudential Corporation Asia was formed in 1994 with the objective of developing our established markets of Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and pursuing value-creation opportunities in the region's many high-potential markets.
Prudential rapidly extended its life business in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea. In 2013 we began life insurance operations in Cambodia.
In China and India, two of the world's fastest-growing economies, the company has formed joint venture partnerships with CITIC Group and ICICI Bank respectively for our life insurance and fund management businesses.
Prudential's Asian asset management business, Eastspring Investments, manages investments across a broad range of asset classes for internal, retail and institutional clients.
Africa
Prudential office in Nairobi, Kenya (1963)
Prudential has a long history in Africa.
Prudential took its first steps in Africa in 1930, when chief office officials undertook a two-week investigative tour of South Africa. Their findings led to the establishment of a Head Office in Johannesburg in 1931 and the formation of a field staff during 1932. Branch offices were established in the Transvaal, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and East London. The first branch office in East Africa was established in Nairobi, Kenya in 1931, although administered from Calcutta; and the first African policy was written on the life of W M S Magambo in Uganda towards the end of 1932, through the agency of Folkes and Company. Mr Magambo collected his maturity proceeds in 1962, and later joined the Company as its first African agent in 1963. From 1933 control of operations at the Nairobi branch was transferred to the South African branch and by 1935 Prudential was represented in Southern Rhodesia, Uganda and Tanganyika, making the area overseen from Johannesburg some 4,000 miles long from Cape Town to northern Uganda. By 1956 Prudential’s operations in Africa had expanded to Malawi and Namibia.
From the 1960s Prudential began to pull out of Africa due to political and regulatory change in the countries in which it had been operating. Prudential returned to Africa in 2014 and now has eight operations in African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo).