New team for insurance giant's Africa arm

The new appointments follow the integration of Liberty Life and STANLIB's Rest of Africa teams and take effect as of 1st September 2007.

Liberty Group Deputy Chief Executive Rex Tomlinson says the rest of Africa represents a strategic opportunity for the company in terms of business growth.

"We currently operate in Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland with healthy margins and good returns, and we work closely with Standard Bank because their pre-eminent African banking footprint gives us a huge advantage in researching the feasibility of various markets on the continent,” says Tomlinson.

The group has spent the past 6 to 12 months actively building their people capacity to deliver on the rest of Africa growth strategy. “We believe that as the continent's economic growth gathers speed, opportunities for a nimble and suitably advantaged regional player will arise,” says Tomlinson, who went on to say that their strategy will involve the establishment of central hubs in each of the Southern, Eastern and Western African regions, and use those hubs to drive expansion.

Bernard Katompa, Chief Executive of Rest of Africa, comes from BHP Billiton where he held a number of senior positions.

Charles Muyodi, responsible for East Africa has held senior executive and professional positions in Kenya, South Africa, the UK and most recently Mauritius.

Lanz Zulu, responsible for southern Africa, is a qualified chartered accountant with a MBA.

Frank Terblanche will handle marketing and distribution for Rest of Africa.