CEO Today Africa Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 28 CEO Today Africa Awards 2017 NIGERIA CORNEILLE KAREKEZI Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of Africa Re FIRM PROFILE The African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) is the premier regional reinsurance institution dedicated to the African continent but open to selected markets in Asia, Brazil and the Middle East Africa Re was established in February 1976 by member States of the then Organisation of African Unity –OAU- (now the African Union –AU), at the initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB). The Mission of Africa Re is to foster the development of the insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa, to promote the growth of the national, regional and sub-regional underwriting and retention capacities and to support African economic development. With its Headquarters in Lagos (Nigeria), Africa Re runs its operations through: • Six (6) Regional Offices across Africa: Casablanca (Morocco), Cairo (Egypt), Lagos (Nigeria), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Nairobi (Kenya), and Ebène (Mauritius). • Two (2) Subsidiaries: African Reinsurance Corporation South Africa Limited (ARCSA), Johannesburg (South Africa); and Africa Retakaful Company in Cairo (Egypt). • One (1) Local Office in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The Africa Re Group is a composite reinsurer, providing reinsurance capacity for both life and non-life policies to its clients in over 60 countries spread across Africa and selected markets in Brazil, Asia and the Middle East. Broadly, the Group’s product range includes: Fire and Engineering; Accident and Motor; Oil and Energy; Marine and Aviation; Life and Health; Miscellaneous. Africa Re also manages the African Aviation and Oil & Energy Pools on behalf of a large number of pool members, through which additional capacity is offered to clients in these specialized areas of reinsurance. ABOUT CORNEILLE KAREKEZI After serving on the Board of Africa Re from 2003 to 2005, Mr Corneille KAREKEZI later joined the Corporation in July 2009 initially as Deputy Managing Director, for a transition period of 2 years, and subsequently as Deputy Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer in 2010, before rising to the current position of Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer in July 2011. His professional career started in 1991 as Chief Accountant /Reinsurance Manager of the leading insurance company in Burundi (SOCABU s.m.), where he rose to the position of Head of the Finance Department. In 1995, he joined the leading insurance company in Rwanda (SONARWA s.a.) as Deputy Head of the Commercial & Technical Department. From 1996, he successively headed all the Technical Departments (Motor, Fire, Accidents & Miscellaneous Risks, and Life) and was appointed Deputy Managing Director in early 2001. In February 2008, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of SONARWA s.a. Mr KAREKEZI holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Postgraduate Diplomas in Business Administration, a Master’s Degree in Management and a Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration. He speaks English, French and Swahili fluently and has contributed significantly to the development of the industry in Africa. He is the current Vice Chairman of Africa Re South Africa Ltd. (South Africa) and Africa Retakaful Corporation (Egypt), Member of the Board of Shelter Afrique (Kenya) and Member of the Executive Committee of the African Insurance Organization (AIO).