Sanlam announces move to a purpose-led organisation

‘Live with Confidence’ brand positioning and business reboot will entrench group as an African financial literacy champion

Sanlam , the leading non-bank financial services provider in Africa, has announced a corporate software reboot to transform its business to become a purpose-led organisation focused on giving millions of Africans the chance to live with financial confidence.

The business and brand repositioning agenda announced in Nairobi by Sanlam Kenya Group CEO Dr Patrick Tumbo is part of a continental campaign. The campaign will see Sanlam investing more than Ksh. 49 million in the rollout and adoption of the brand tag line ‘Live with Confidence’ in the next two to three years.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed Sanlam Kenya through its Sanlam Life and Sanlam General Insurance subsidiaries will be catalysing this proposition through an expanded product offering, data and digital transformation, empowerment, building a future-fit culture, innovation and partnerships.

The new Sanlam brand positioning that heavily focuses on financial literacy initiatives will be headlined by Portuguese professional football manager and former player José Mourinho, who embodies the Live with Confidence philosophy in his life.

“In Kenya, we are joining our colleagues across the continent to guarantee exceptional service delivery in our insurance businesses that can allow our clients to live with utmost confidence,” Dr Tumbo said. He added that “For us, this is not just a catchphrase but a new normal cultural transformation that will embody our daily engagements with all our clients on both the traditional and digital service delivery platforms.

While Sanlam has been on a journey to place purpose at the heart of everything it does for some time now, the COVID-19 pandemic has solidified the urgent need for corporates to play a more meaningful role in society, to move away from being led by profit only to a place of empowerment and deep societal impact.

Paul Hanratty, CEO of Sanlam, speaking from Johannesburg, South Africa said: “The pandemic has placed such a harrowing spotlight on how vulnerable the impoverished are both in our country and across the continent. Everyone deserves an equal chance at living a better life, at inclusion in the mainstream economy. At the intersection of financial inclusion and financial security, you find financial confidence. That is where we will continue to build capacity, across Africa and beyond.”

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), financial inclusion is synonymous with increased economic growth, reduced income inequality and accelerated GDP growth. However, globally, more than 1.6 million adults remain unbanked. The World Bank’s Global Financial inclusion report found the financial systems of many African countries remain underdeveloped compared to other developing economies, despite focused reforms in the last two decades.

Progress is often halted due to the digital divide, social and political instability, unemployment, and unequal opportunities for women. Hanratty says true inclusion goes beyond access to banks and credit. “It’s about ensuring the previously marginalised have access to well-functioning financial infrastructure. It also means equipping individuals with the financial confidence to manage their money.

The IMF ranks Africa’s growth prospects between 2018 and 2023 as one of the highest in the world. The continent is also home to the world’s fastest growing middle class. The potential is immense, but only if it can be unlocked. “And by imprinting ‘Live with confidence’ in the DNA of every aspect of our business, from the financial adviser’s meeting with a client to the development of new offerings, we will empower generations to be financially confident, secure and prosperous.”

The purpose ‘live with confidence’ will be brought to life through a range of initiatives, including new data- and AI-led innovations such as a Confidence Coach Chat-bot to upskill financial literacy, an Annual Financial Confidence Index to pinpoint regions where capacity building is imperative, and the launch of a financial literacy TV game show, Sanlam Moola-Money in April.

“No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.” Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776 Sydney Mbhele, Chief Executive of Brand at Sanlam, says the new purpose and rebranding goes beyond ‘beautiful words’, “It’s an enabler for the business. Sanlam has always had this notion of empowerment at its heart – from its founding mission in 1918 to empower poor Afrikaners to pioneering South Africa’s first BEE transaction in 1993. We are going back to our roots of empowerment and articulating this in a more purposeful way.”

Mbhele says that to live with confidence is a feeling of empowerment that comes from knowing you’re in control of your life, “Financial confidence gives you a better chance of reaching the goals that matter to you. It’s accessible to everyone, whether you have a lot or a little, irrespective of age and stage. It is a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity. We believe the way you feel about your finances drives how you act. And those actions can have a profound impact on how securely and prosperously you live your life.”

The Sanlam Group has long been committed to investing in Africa’s potential. As the continent’s largest non-banking financial services provider in 33 countries and counting, it invests significantly in all the communities it operates in. In Kenya, Sanlam Kenya PLC and Sanlam Investments East Africa, last year extended a Kshs 8million corporate donation to the Kenya COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund to boost the national COVID-19 resource mobilization efforts.