MR JULIUS KIPNG’ETICH. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Jubilee Holdings is set to invest an additional Sh4.4 billion
($44 million) in Ugandan hydroelectric power plant Bujagali as part of
the insurance group’s diversification across the East African region.
The
investment will significantly increase the insurer’s shareholding in
the power distributor two years after it bought a Sh5.5 billion stake.
“We
continue to search for high quality conservative investments that offer
consistent and competitive returns and also provide a suitable
asset-liability match to some of our longer term insurance liabilities,”
said Jubilee Holdings chairman Nizar Juma on Thursday.
Jubilee sees the power plant’s return profile as matching the group’s longer term pension and annuity liabilities.
Bujagali generates about 50 per cent of hydro power in Uganda.
Jubilee Holding’s increase in investment comes at the back of a Sh4.2 billion after-tax profit last year, a 15 per cent increase over 2016.
Its
medical insurance profit grew by 478 per cent to Sh878 million last
year, even as the firm struggles to control fraudulent claims.
The
insurer is also making new investments in technology and data analytics
in efforts to tap more into Kenya’s market, where only about two per
cent of the population is insured.
The company rolled out an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered chat assistant last year.
Penetration is however tipped to hit double figures in the next five years, highlighting a promising outlook for the insurer.
Jubilee Holdings provides insurance services in neighbouring Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Mauritius.
The
board chair said its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) will start once there is political stability, two years since it
announced its entry into the troubled country.
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