Botswana Life unveils new brand identity
Pauline Dikuelo | Thursday July 23, 2015 12:34
Speaking at the celebrations, the company’s chief executive officer Catherine Lesetedi-Letegele said as part of celebrating their milestone, which has run for a period of 40 years, they had resolved to unveil a new corporate identity that would take them to the next four decades.
“In coming up with this new brand, we introspect on who we are, who our clients are and what we want to all our stakeholders. In the eyes of many we are an icon, a symbol of pride, a beacon of hope. We have therefore summed up our brand presence into one word, ‘Pride.’
“This implies Pride in what we do, in the difference we are making for our policy holders and shareholders as well as in our contribution to the socio economic development of this country,” she said.
Lesetedi-Letegele added that pride must not be misunderstood to be arrogance for it is the kind of pride that motivated them to do the right things for their clients, to innovate and to strive to do better and to serve the country well.
“We are eager to remind our customers of our commitment to serving them and assure them of the trust that they can continue to have in the Botswana Life brand. Our new values of caring, connected, committed and courageous will be a constant reminder that we exist to demonstrate care to those we serve and serve them with respect and integrity,” she said. Botswana Life, which currently has a market share of over 75 percent, is said to be a benchmark for other insurance companies in the region with over 300 000 active individual life policies.
According to Lesetedi-Letegele, they are contributing to the economy of the country adding that of the 260 employees they have, only two are expatriates, demonstrating a high commitment to localisation and skills development of the citizens.
“We have an agency force of 600 advisors and this figure is expected to grow by a further 200 in the next two to three years. Indirectly and through our corporate agencies we employ a further 300 advisors,” she said.
Since the introduction of the government internship scheme, Botswana Life has absorbed more than 20 interns on a permanent basis. Of the P8 billion that they are managing on behalf of their policy holders, Lesetedi-Letegele noted that about P6.8 billion is invested locally in government bonds, local property, the domestic stock exchange and structured bonds.
“The deliberate bias to invest locally has led to lending opportunities for businesses in turn assisting these companies to expand their enterprises and create employment,” she said.
According to Lesetedi-Letegele, their investments through their sister company, BIFM, continue to change and add to their landscape. Botswana Life has also developed the Tapologo estate on behalf of their Life and Pension funds.
Amongst their innovations, Botswana Life has introduced Life Rewards Visa card, a full transactional card that can be used locally and internationally as their latest innovation. Through this card, the unbanked beneficiaries and dependents who were excluded form the banking system are now owners. To date, the card has over 42 000 cardholders and disbursed over P260 million through the card.
“Today, we make another commitment to the social upliftment of our people as we announce a pledge of P1.5 million to the Presidential Housing Appeal, which will be distributed in three tranches over the next three years, starting with a donation of P500, 00 this year,” said Lesetedi-Letegele.
Botswana Life was formed in 1975 when Botswana Insurance Company was formed as a subsidiary of Botswana Development Corporation (BDC). The entity operated under the name for several years before a new Insurance Industry Act was promulgated in 1987, requiring the separation of general insurance and life insurance. In 1993, BIHL acquired IGI Holdings, the business which is now know as Botswana Life Insurance Limited.