By Bisi Bamishe
Ebelechukwu Benedicta Nwachukwu has been appointed as the first female managing director of Nigeria’s leading insurance and risk management company, Royal Exchange General Insurance Company Limited.
Her appointment was announced today in Lagos by the company’s board of directors at a press briefing following the confirmation of her appointment by the industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission, (NAICOM).
The Chairman, Board of Directors, Prince Ike Chioke, making known the new managing director, said that Mrs. Ebele Nwachukwu, with her extensive experience and knowledge of the insurance industry, will seek to drive the continuous growth and profitability of Royal Exchange General Insurance Company and make the company a market leader in general insurance business in Nigeria.
According to Chioke, Ebele brings close to three decades of versatile and trusted experience to Royal Exchange General Insurance, with a track record of excellence and performance, having previously led two insurance companies in Nigeria.
He said, “We are very confident in her ability to take the company to even greater heights. Ebele is expected to focus on our transformation agenda as we seek to diversify our business lines and focus on the retail insurance space. Royal Exchange General Insurance has a vision to attain and maintain market leadership in terms of profitability and excellent service. For us at the Board, we see Ebele as someone who can drive this vision, as we seek to be a top 3 general insurance firm in Nigeria. This is the goal and expectation of the investors and the Board, within the next 3-5 years.”
Appreciating the immediate past management director of the company, Chioke said, “the Board would like to thank Mr. Benjamin Agili for his meritorious service to the Company. Mr. Agili will always be remembered for his leadership, service, dedication, and strong commitment to the company. Under his watch, the company has grown to be major player in the general insurance space in Nigeria and the Board thanks Mr. Agili for his services.
Ebele who assumed her new office on December 1, 2022, disclosed that her focus is to deepen the company’s business, transform the retail space, build a formidable business and create a place of pride to work for the staff.
According to her, she is fully ready to build a strong team to get the task done and reposition the company. She went further to thank the board of directors for the confidence reposed in her to lead the company.
Ebelechukwu a graduate of <span;>University of Benin, Edo State and obtained her master’s degree in Business Administration from the ESUT Business School. She is an Alumni of London Business School (Executive Education); London and The Columbia Business School, New York; and has attended Executive programmes at the Manchester and Lagos Business Schools.
She started her insurance career at International Standard Insurance in 1994 after the mandatory NYSC and spent an additional year with the firm before joining Standard Alliance Insurance Plc in 1996, as an Officer, Public Sector. She rose to the position of Assistant General Manager (AGM) before leaving in 2004 to join UBA Insurance Company as Deputy General Manager/Divisional Head, Retail and Channel Management with the task of running the Bancassurance Model with UBA Plc. She also had a stint at UBA Plc as Senior Manager/Head, Marketing – Cards Division.
Ebele left UBA Plc to join Zenith General Insurance as a Deputy General Manager (DGM) in 2007, was promoted to the position of General Manager (GM) in 2008 and later appointed the MD/CEO in the same year, leading the company to unprecedented growth in terms of revenue and profitability in the nine (9) years she spent as the managing director.
She assumed the leadership position of MD/CEO at NSIA Insurance in January 2018, where she led the business reengineering and transformation projects in the company. While at NSIA, her efforts led to a change in the company’s structure, culture and operations, leading to increased business patronage and was awarded the ‘Best Place to work’ in 2019. She left NSIA in May 2022 to pursue other personal interests.
In the Nigerian Insurance Industry, Ebele has served in the following capacities: Member, Governing Council, Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA); Chairman, Publicity Sub-Committee of the Insurers Committee (NAICOM); Chairman, AIO Organizing Committee – AIO 2021, (hosted in Nigeria) and Chairman, NIA House Project.
A member of Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN); Ebele is also a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, (IoD); Chartered Member of the Nigerian institute of Management (NIM) and a member of the Personal Finance Society, United Kingdom.
Royal Exchange General Insurance Company Limited is licensed and regulated by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to offer the full range of general and special risks insurance products and with decades of experience in the Nigerian market, she has an enviable reputation for technical competence and financial strength.
The company undertook the first of (2) capital injection exercises in 2019 which led to capital injection from the InsurResilience Fund (IIF) established by the German Development Bank (KfW) and managed by Swiss-based Impact Investment Managers, Blue Orchard Finance Investment Limited.
The second capital exercise led to the investment by AfricInvest, a leading pan-African asset management company. The investment was made through its evergreen private equity fund, Financial Inclusion Vehicle (FIVE).
Following the investments by the IIF and AfricInvest, the company’s shareholders funds currently stands at N13.8bn as at November, 2022.
These investments in Royal Exchange General Insurance Company will enable the company focus on more large-ticket transactions, diversify existing business and product lines, especially its retail line of business, and enable the company to expand its underwriting capacity.
