Shareholders in Rwanda’s oldest insurer, Sonarwa Insurance Ltd, have pulled out of a proposed deal to cede some stake to BK Insurance. Sonarwa’s major shareholders, Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), have decided not to proceed with the planned acquisition and instead, focus on relevance and impact in the local market. The public pension body RSSB owns up to 100 per cent shares in Sonarwa Life and 79.46 per cent stake in Sonarwa General. According to Richard Tusabe, the Director-General of RSSB, there was no pressure to sell the firm hence choosing to build on the potential the firm has locally to grow insurance penetration. Tusabe said that with insurance penetration standing at around 2 per cent, there is a huge opportunity for them as investors. He, however, did not rule out chances of a merger or acquisition of the firm in the future, saying that they would be open to talking to players who share in their ambitions of growing the sector and creating a win-win scenario. Sonarwa General Chairperson, Iza Irame, said that focus has been on revamping the performance of the firm by designing new relevant products, innovation and staff restructuring to improve fitness for performance. In May this year, BK Group confirmed that they had opened talks with the shareholders of the country’s oldest insurance firm, in a bid to acquire it.
