WAICA MEMBERS CHARGED TO LIST SHARES ON LOCAL STOCK EXCHANGES
Sierra Leonean President, Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma has appealed to owners of Sierra Leone based WAICA Reinsurance Plc (WAICA Re) to list the shares of the company on the stock exchange of the member-countries.
To this end, the Board of Directors of the company are putting all the necessary things in place to ensure that the company commence full operation.
It will be recalled that the company commenced the private placement of 25 million ordinary shares of the company at US$1 per share, thereby offering interested individuals and corporations an opportunity to invest in the company.
WAICA Re was formed by members of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA), an umbrella body for insurance organisations in the sub-region
Announcing this on behalf of the company, Pennarth Greene & Company Limited stated that the company's board intends to develop a company of international standing over the next few years.
According to the company, the share offer which opened on May 24 2011 is expected to close today.
The company has an authorised capital of N100 million ordinary shares of US$1 each and it is seeking to offer its shares and commence business with a fully paid capital of US$25 million. According to the offer prospectus, the at the offer price of US$1 per share, the post offer capitalisation of company would be US$25 million from a zero pre offer paid up capitalisation.
The company's board stated in the prospectus that the offer is meant to fund the start up of the company specifically in providing the necessary capital to underwrite reinsurance business and to establish offices in Freetown, Accra and Lagos.
Part of proceeds of the offer according to the board would be utilised to finance the establishment costs including Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and other system deployments. The minimum unit sale of the shares according to the board is 1,000 shares and multiples of 500 thereafter even as the offer is not underwritten at the insistence of the issuer.
The company according to its board is not indebted to any organisation in whatsoever form to date.
WAICA was founded in 1973 by insurance institutions in the five English speaking West African countries including Nigerian, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana. The association also prides enjoying the support of governments of its member-countries.
'I want to appeal to the board of WAICA Re to ensure that the shares of WAICA Re Plc are traded on the stock exchange markets of member states.
We will not only derive the benefit of having the WAICA-Re listed within the stock markets of our individual states, it will also represent the precedents of how we can as a region integrate further in terms of sharing business and contributing toward the support of business in the sub-region. I believe it will be a great plus for all of us,' Koroma advised.
Also endorsing the company, Nigeria's Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel 'the benefits accruable to the insurance industry in the sub-region with the establishment of the WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc are immense.
With adequate initial take-off capitalisation, it is expected that the corporation will contribute a higher level of capacity to the insurance companies in the sub-region than the pool.'