SATIB INSURANCE BROKERS – Celebrating 30 Years of Protecting African Tourism

In June 2018, Dewald Cillie spoke to Enterprise Africa about the buzzing excitement across the SATIB Insurance Brokers business in South Africa after he took the reins of the company in January that year.

This unique and innovative company specialises in insurance and risk across hospitality and tourism – one of southern Africa’s most important industry sectors.

According to Stats SA, the number of tourist arrivals into South Africa alone will grow by 2023 to almost 20 million annually, contributing in a big way to the country’s economy. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism accounts for almost 3% of GDP and is responsible for more than R140 billion of income – some are even labelling the industry the ‘New Gold’.

This year, SATIB Insurance Brokers is celebrating 30 years of service in the vital industry and is planning strategies that will see it further entrenched in tourism across Africa.

“SATIB is turning 30 this year and it is a proud and humbling moment for us considering our clients have been trusting us for this long to look after their insurance requirements in the hospitality and tourism industry. It has never been an easy ride but we have been fortunate and we are looking forward to the year,” Cillie tells Enterprise Africa.

INDIAN OCEAN

In 2018, SATIB had started a roll out across the Indian Ocean islands, basing itself in Mauritius and operating from a new brand – African Risk Transfer (ART).

Headed by industry expert Gavin Courtenay (son of SATIB founder, Brian), ART is a reinsurance brokerage business focussed on African expansion. Cillie is happy to report that progress in Mauritius has been impressive.

“The Mauritius business has blown our minds in terms of how well it has done,” he smiles. “Having the right person at the helm in Mauritius has ensured we have exceeded expectations in terms of growth. We are far ahead of the targets we set and we have created some fantastic strategic partnerships with local businesses there. That has really helped to get us to where we are now and is creating a diverse footprint in Mauritius and into Africa.”

ART is now recognised for its A+ rated security, prompt claims settlement, and efficient and personal service. According to Cillie the drivers of success in Mauritius include innovative thinking and effective relationship building.

“Firstly, we have bought in a fresh approach to how we do things in these territories. This sprouts from our experience over the years. We are not tied down to the normal way of handling insurance.

“Secondly, it’s the strategic partnerships that we have managed to build with the right people, who have a common view of business growth in Africa,” he says.

Like SATIB in South Africa, ART allows for businesses in tourism and hospitality to run free of worry. The experience within the company makes for a strong proposition and this is evidenced in the expansion that has been achieved to date.

With offices in nine African countries, SATIB is already a continental player. In 2018, plans were being developed to expand heavily in Mozambique. Recent growth in the Indian Ocean islands have caused those plans to be slowed down while exponential growth was serviced from Mauritius.

“There has been progress in Mozambique but it has been slower than we expected,” details Cillie. “Our Indian Ocean island growth strategy has surpassed our expectations and in a very short period of time we have also opened an office in the Seychelles. The attention that we needed in those two areas has caused other growth areas to take a back seat. Mozambique is still on the cards but we don’t have anything formalised there yet – we are still in negotiations and it is a very delicate negotiation process there. We hope to have a solution there in the next 12 months.”

DIGITAL FUTURE

An inevitable element in the future mix of the insurance space is digital offerings. Some companies are already deep into the roll out of modern digital strategies, which include everything from roboadvice and AI communications through to novel insurance products to mitigate risk in the digital space.

For SATIB, entering the market with a digital product, or moving operations to become more digitally focussed is no simple task. The number of products and risks that the company works with, alongside the number of very different clients in very different environments, requires a considered, phased approach to digital integration.

Back in 2018, Cillie was clear that digital was the future, calling a strategy switch inevitable. Currently, SATIB is working on a digital solution to add to its overall offering for Africa. The innovation will be carefully considered and sustainable, and will help both the company and its clients to remain cost-competitive.

SATIB already brings economies of scale to clients thanks to its set up as part of the firstEquity Insurance Group and local partnership with PSG Insure.

“firstEquity insurance group is our holding structure and that is where SATIB, ART and all of the other brands fall into. The collective buying power that we bring into the group is a bonus and allows us to bring more cost-effective solutions our client-base,” explains Cillie.

“We have made a lot of progress with our digital growth and we have managed to build our framework for that digital strategy. We are quite far advanced at this stage and we are busy adapting our existing products within our group offering to fit within the structure of our digital landscape. Our decision was that we would try and do this without throwing ridiculous money at it. Our Group CEO, Vis Govender is running with the project personally and he has been very hands on, working with a small team and doing all of the development in-house which has allowed for it to be done quite cost-effectively.

“Hopefully this year we will be ready for testing by Q3 and we can then start thinking of launch strategies,” he adds.

Digital transformation and disruption is perhaps one of the biggest risks to existing insurers (no strangers to risk), as innovative new start ups enter the industry utilising all new tools including machine learning, Internet of Things, blockchain, data analytics and other emerging technologies. While SATIB certainly will not be making people redundant to incorporate digital cost savings, the company is planning to become more and more digital as it grows.

“It is a plan of ours to take whatever we do into emerging markets. We haven’t finalised this strategy but, with this digital product and how we are developing it, it will give us an easy platform to take this into emerging markets around the world.”

CYBERCRIME

One area of the digital space that SATIB will have to be fully versed on in the short- and longer-term future is cybercrime. As one of the fastest growing strains of criminal activity worldwide, cybercrime can be immeasurably destructive for businesses. Sophisticated criminal groups use phishing, identity theft and other intimidating strategies to debilitate company systems and, potentially, steal information and money.

“Cybercrime is now probably Africa’s biggest risk and is becoming more and more frequent. Online fraud equates to around R6 billion lost in South Africa,” admits Cillie.

“This is a risk that businesses need to be aware of. The incapacitating ability of such an attack on a business is frightening. Unfortunately, we have been the target of cyber-attacks and if it wasn’t for our preparedness and our policy to fall back on, it could have been crippling to the business.”

Having experienced the panic and stress of cybercrime, SATIB itself is an example of how to handle the situation – have relevant and comprehensive cover alongside robust systems and protections.

Coincidentally, the attempted cyber attack on SATIB came just as the company was readying to promote its cyber insurance offering.

Underwriting Director, Carla Gillham recently travelled to London and world-leading insurance organisation Lloyd’s of London to understand more about the issue.

“For local business to remain competitive amongst international booking agents, and their competitors, cyber insurance is a prerequisite for sustainability and competitive advantage,” she says. “EU booking agents will be reluctant to expose themselves to the cyber risk of local businesses who don’t have cover. African businesses that do purchase the cover can then use it as a marketing tool to differentiate themselves from other providers who do not, which will give them a competitive advantage.”

According to SATIB: “If your business stores client and supplier information for debit orders, or any other billing requirements at all, you fall within in the scope of a cyber-criminal target.”

This is why Cillie is so keen to push new cyber insurance products and insure the industry is doing everything possible to minimise risk.

“We are still dealing with the fallout from the attack on our company and it makes it feel very personal. It’s scary that it coincided with the start of our campaign. We are using the opportunity that comes with our 30^th anniversary to raise awareness within our client base of certain new risks in the market.”

The SATIB cyber policy can assist with data breach incident response, offering a direct contact to a specialist legal firm ready to investigate and develop a response plan. The product also boasts an extension for covering against financial losses that may arise from criminal strategies such as phishing.

30 YEARS YOUNG

While SATIB is busy celebrating three decades of success, it is not resting on laurels or focussing only on achievements of the past. The company has certainly come a long way from the days when Brian Courtenay founded SATIB in 1990 but, even during this year of celebration, Cillie is clear that focus on excellence must remain to help the company during what is a turning out to be a difficult period for the regional economy.

“It’s such an uncertain situation that we find ourselves in,” he admits. “We sit with large scale corruption at government level and obviously that has left us with a massive fiscal debt that we are trying to service daily. It’s a very tough environment for any business in South Africa at that stage. We have the drawback of also not having a trustworthy and steady power source and all of this hampers confidence. It really is a tough environment and we have seen tourism numbers decrease. There are many negative outlooks and there is a lot of uncertainty in South Africa and of South Africa.

“As South Africans, we are always positive and optimistic about the outlook and where we can go. If we are left with no option but to fight, then we will fight.”

For Cillie, a highlight from SATIB’s portfolio – an example of where the company has made a real difference in the life of clients – is the development and launch of the SATIB24 Crisis Call product. Membership allows for 24/7 direct access to a hotline to help deal with emergency situations. Doctors, nurses, paramedics and even air evacuation services are among the long list of facilities on offer.

“It is one of our biggest offerings for the hospitality and tourism industry,” says Cillie. “We handle around 60 incidents a month and that varies from tooth ache to very serious medical evacuations from remote areas to equipped medical facilities. It’s absolutely very positive and we believe we are contributing to saving lives and keeping tourists safe in SA, making sure they get the best medical facilities so they can recover from whatever incident they may experience.”

The CEO is hoping that SATIB can carry on delivering this type of top-class service for clients in the future, helping SATIB to start its next 30 years in the right way, leading the hospitality and tourism insurance industry. He is in no doubt about what is needed to continue in the same vein: brilliant work from fantastic people – the nature of the insurance market. 

“We are very happy and we attribute that to the human capital that we have. If we did not have the people that we have, who have dedicated so much time to ensure our clients’ needs are looked after, we would not be where we are. We believe in the cliché that our people are the greatest asset and we will continue to build the business around them.”

For 30 years, SATIB has had business in the hospitality and tourism industry covered. While Africa looks to drive tourism in the future, SATIB is now better positioned than ever before to ensure the sector remains protected against all risks.