I hope we have all had a great start to the new year. As we position ourselves to achieve big things, I have a few announcements to allow us to be on the same page.

Firstly, I am pleased to announce that Sanlam Emerging Markets has officially changed its name to Sanlam Pan Africa (SPA) as the descriptor for the SEM African operations. This means we will now refer to ourselves as being part of Sanlam Pan Africa. However, SEM will remain as the legal entity as it also caters for both the India and Malaysia operations.

I would also like to recognize one of our own – Stanley Mazorodze, The Zimnat General Insurance MD who has just celebrated 30 years in the General Insurance industry and has been appointed the CEO of Zimnat General Insurance.  He has extensive experience in the insurance industry and is a qualified Fellow and Associate with the Insurance Institute of South Africa. The lesson we can draw from Stanley’s success story is that hard work and determination pays off. We wish Stanley all the best as he continues to seek out the best opportunities for the organisation and to ensure it lives out its purpose of Making life better.

We also had a positive milestone lately as a group. For the first time Zimnat Client Advisors (Agents) from the group came together in Harare and awards were presented to the top performing advisors in 2018. It was a great experience to see the men and women who have dedicated their lives to making life better for customers, employees and shareholders. The sales teams are the engine that drives the organisation and their success must be celebrated.

As we position ourselves for growth this year and in the coming years, one thing that will completely differentiate us from the rest of the competition is customer experience. How are you making life better for the customer? As a Zimnat brand ambassador, how are you being relevant to the customer needs not just within your business space but within the Zimnat Group as a whole.

With these few thoughts I leave you to get on with achieving those big hairy audacious goals for yourself and the organisation. Go out there and Make life better!