Allianz emerges 'International Corporation of the Year' in Africa
Allianz has been named as the ‘International Corporation of the Year’ in Africa.
Allianz received the award at the 5th annual Africa CEO Forum which held in Geneva, Switzerland from March 20-21.
The elated Regional CEO Africa at Allianz, Coenraad Vrolijk, said 'we are so honored that Allianz commitment to Africa has been recognized with this award. Allianz has been in Africa for 105 years.'
He explained that 'we invest in Africa and in our local teams because we believe in the huge growth potential that the continent, and its insurance market in particular, offers.'
Allianz employs over 1,500 people in 16 countries and accompanies its clients in 38 countries across Africa offering a comprehensive range of insurance, assistance, pension and savings products.
In recent years, Allianz has launched start-ups in Ghana, Kenya and Congo Brazzaville while continuing to invest in its local companies. In 2016, Allianz further stepped up its investment in the continent with the acquisition of Zurich Insurance Group's business in Morocco.
The company, renamed Allianz Maroc, is headquartered in Casablanca where Allianz is building its regional hub for Africa to drive its future development in the region.
The 'International Corporation of the Year' award recognizes a company for achieving the most outstanding growth of its activities in Africa in a recent period. Award criteria include:
• Number of growth operations in Africa in the past two years
• Number of African countries where the company is present
• Africa's share in total sales
• Number of African employees on the continent
• Activities of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability
• Innovation capacity
The Africa CEO Forum brings together over one thousand CEOs of the largest African and international companies, policy makers and investors from over 40 countries.
The Allianz Group serves 86 million retail and corporate customers in more than 70 countries, making it one of the world's largest insurers and asset managers.
In 2016, over 140,000 employees worldwide achieved total revenues of 122.4 billion euros and an operating profit of 10.8 billion euros.
Allianz Group managed an investment portfolio of 653 billion euros. Additionally, its asset managers AllianzGI and PIMCO managed over 1.3 trillion euros of third-party assets.
Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance.
As an investor, Allianz is active in a variety of sectors including debt, equity, infrastructure, real estate and renewable energy.
The Group's long-term value strategies maximize risk-adjusted returns.