As part of the women’s day celebration, The New Times conversed with one of the women in leadership. Mrs. Annie Nibishaka, the Managing Director of UAP Insurance and Chairperson of Rwanda Insurers association. She opens up about her experience, the obstacles faced, her strategy to overcome them and her contribution toward gender inclusion and women empowerment. What events in your life led you to choose a career in Insurance? It all started with a job offer, I came across a job offer of what was called CORAR at that time, I was working in a financial institution that operated more like a bank. The job offer seemed interesting, but I was a bit hesitating because I didn’t know any insurance product rather than motor, So I decide to pass and not apply. At that time the offer was still open, I met the MD of the company suddenly through a network event, I told him that I have come across an offer from his company and I thought of applying but decide not to because I didn’t know much about insurance sector. He replied: The fact that you don’t know much about the sector is a challenge that you should take.” he encouraged me to apply for the position and educate myself about insurance. I went home, did my homework, applied and got selected. I did not start a career in insurance because it was my childhood dream, I started because someone challenged me and showed me that I was capable of working there and succeeding. Fast forward, I ended up enjoying the environment and decided to stay in the industry 8 years in UAP, where you have worked as Head of Marketing and Distribution, Deputy CEO, and now Managing Director, what have been some of the most formative experiences for you? I started among the first employee when UAP opened in Rwanda, 8 year ago. It was a green field for the company joining local companies in operation for the mostly 20 years and above. As the company was growing, I have got a lot of opportunities to grow with it from the establishment of a new brand in the market, build trust, awareness, avail solutions/ products and now UAP is among the tip two insurers in terms of GWP (gross written premium) and number one medical insurer. While we are still on your experience, especially as a woman in a world dominated by men, a market dominated by men in leadership, are there any things that served to navigate it? “There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish” it’s one of my favorite quotes of Michelle Obama. I will highlight 3 things that keep me going every day. First, become a person of value: believe in yourself and recognize your value, ask to work on that project that fascinates you most, volunteer to lead the team, and show your capacity to do the work. Second, let your voice be heard and speak with confidence: what you have to say is worth listening to; practice being assertive and express your ideas with confidence. Finally, take on a leadership role: Whatever your position, find a leadership role you can excel in, whether archive management, resolving conflict, or crisis management, be the person to go to for those situations. What the sacrifices and obstacles you have faced as a woman in your career, and how are you challenging the world, starting with your company to solve them? Being a woman working in a male dominated environment has been quiet a journey. I remember the day I went for a work training and we were only 3 women in a team of just men, and they would forget us, ignore our presence. We had to always remind them that we were present. By then, I wasn’t the managing director, and the workshop was attended by mostly managing director, so they thought it was just a small girl attending. Whenever they were a time off, or after the training everyone would remember we are part of the team but when it comes to professional discussion, we would become invisible. So, we decided with my friends to form a only women group and we would work to make sure that our presentations are perfect and show them that it’s not only men who understand or it’s not only men who could do it. During our stay, none of us were familiar of the country we were in but we did everything by ourselves, we avoided restaurants that men were going to, or any other activities that they were doing just to show them that women are capable of taking care of themselves. My contribution today is to show every girl, every woman that she is capable of anything she puts her mind to. I encourage women to believe in themselves, ask for their sit at the table. There is no field that a man can do better than a woman because he is a man. Tell me about that time you decided to challenge yourself and your environment by taking a different direction than originally planned? When I decided to change my career and start working in insurance. My past experience has been in financial institution whether in Canada or Rwanda. I was working with R-Switch, which is an inter-connection of banks, so my knowledge was more about how banks operate. So, I took the challenge, without having any ideas on what the products are, how can I sell them and how does the insurance operate. As I was taking the challenge, I had a conversation with a friend who told me something that motivated me throughout till today. He said to me: “Insurance is not bought. It is sold. in order to sell a product, you need to understand it. When you work in a bank most people come to you looking for your products because of your rates and other benefits, when you work in insurance people don’t even what to listen to you, they think you are a gambler, claims will take forever so they are not willing to come to you. So, you need to go to them, educate them and convince them. In the end I took the risk, and I am glad of the results. Your organization is known among some who employ the youth and yourself being among the youngest female MDs in the country’s Insurance Sector. How does working with young people and you being young has affected how you lead? When I joined the Insurance sector about 18 years ago without experience. Trust in my ability to handle my new responsibility, empowerment to close my gaps and investment on building my capacity build my confidence to grow. This makes me feel like it is my turn to do the same for the younger generation. Give opportunities while you support and mentor them through the process. My team is indeed made of young employee and enjoy working with them, I keep being inspired by their desire and willingness to go beyond their boundaries. You have been recently elected as the Chair of the Rwanda Insurers Association (ASSAR). How do you feel about the new appointment, and what will be your input to the insurance industry? Rwanda’s insurance penetration rate is still low because most of the population believes that an insurance cover is a second option. Through education and access to the information, we will help the consumers make more informed decisions and perceive the necessity of the insurance cover. I am glad to join the battle and contribute transformation of the insurance sector in Rwanda Covid-19 has been a brought challenge in our daily lives, as well as in the corporate world. What are the challenges you have faced as an insurance company, and how did you solve them? Our biggest challenge was to keep serving our client while business is closed and the country is on lockdown. This allowed us to prioritize our digital services in the pipeline and develop our call center to still serve our clients even during the lockdown. Do you believe the world will turn back to being normal after this pandemic? Or is this our new normal? How do we see the future of women in the world post-covid19? The world will never be the same after covid-19. Women and men across the globe should work together: To protect and empower women and girls from gender-based violence; Create a more women inclusive society; Involve women in COVID-19 specialized groups or task forces and legislative, policy, and budgetary decision-making processes. A particular word to all women across the world? To the young girls: believe in yourself, follow your dreams, if men can do it, so can we. To my fellow women in their different areas of expertise and sectors, let’s all choose to challenge.
