Bramer Life re-brands to Bona Life
Pauline Dikuelo | Wednesday September 23, 2015 16:34
The launch, which was held yesterday, comes after Bramer Life cut ties with its Mauritian majority shareholder and replaced them with a local private equity fund, the Botswana Opportunity Partnership (BOP).
BOP is a partnership between the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) and Capital Management Botswana (CMB).
Through the facelift, Bona Life intends to align itself to its new shareholders by redirecting the focus to retirement products and prepare them for future retirement. They also have developed products to cover mortgage protection and cash back investment products, which provide cover for homeowners and other lifestyle activities.
Speaking at the launch, Bona Life chief executive officer (CEO), Regina Sikalesele-Vaka said the re-birth of the company, to become the first citizen life insurance company, would bring the greatest change in the industry.
The new shareholding structure is such that citizen shareholders control 82.5 percent while non-citizen shareholders have 17.5 percent. BOP will own 40 percent stake while CMB gets 25 percent and staff scheme is 10 percent.
“The current insurance industry is characterised by companies and products imported from South Africa. A gap exists in the market to provide solutions that go beyond traditional life insurance to reach ordinary segments of the market that have not been serviced before,” she said. Sikalesele-Vaka added that Bona Life intends to become a trusted partner in uplifting the livelihoods of Batswana through trusted and innovative financial solutions. According to the CEO, the company will not impersonate corporates that control what clients want, but shall become the extended family that communities have lost over the years of modernisation.
“There is enough evidence that show that a good portion of employees and self employed do not have any pension at all and struggle after their productive life comes to an end,” she said.
In addition, Bona Life says it shall also come up with unique products as they have inherited competitive Group Life products for employers and other groups to provide cover for their members.
Speaking at the launch, former President Sir Ketumile Masire urged BPOPF to rally behind and support Bona Life, noting that the growth of the company will also grow their personal wealth with the pension fund.
He said there are ample opportunities for Bona Life as a citizen entrant into the industry to significantly reduce the dominance of foreign players by providing relevant financial solutions that resonate the country.
“In the 40 years of existence, the insurance industry has developed rapidly and is currently worth P2 billion in annual premiums, in which 80 percent of the market is held by the oldest insurance company Botswana Life. The remaining 20 percent is shared by the remaining six companies,” he said.
Bona Life’s logo remains with the blue and brown colours. The elements of the logo are water for life, seed for a new beginning, as well as a diamond for wealth of Botswana which all come together to form the eye. All three elements are tied together in a circle, which is said to symbolise dominance.