It is to be regarded as highly unfortunate that the Engineering Insurance Sector in South Africa lost its prominence, its important foothold and beneficial role within the greater insurance industry.
Why unfortunate? Because of great and greater opportunities lost!
Consider the following:
In 2011, can the local insurance sector provide 100% capacity for all mega-projects unfolding within South Africa and the Southern region, and when they do, are they as competitive and technically astute as other global markets? Why have they not secured the volumes of business and resources to enable them to widen scope of cover yet reduce premiums, to compete effectively with the international markets and in so doing, play there ‘meaningful’ role in assisting the South African industry to become more globally competitive? Has the South African engineering market built for itself a technically-sophisticated and convincing brand, such that it has now captured/diverted the full-flow of engineering business on the Continent (and the Middle East) from gushing towards the European Markets? Has there been Corporate and Political strategy and lobbying in this regard nationally and regionally? After 20 years at least, of living the new democracy reality, how well entrenched are skills sets and how fully transformed is the sector – across brokers, insurers/UMAs, reinsurers, loss adjusters? When the big-game is to be played (whether underwriting or claims handling related), who are we calling? London or central Johannesburg/Lagos/Nairobi?
The fact that there is now some (perceived or real) corporate/industry attention (and dare I say it – ‘Return to Glory Days’) being given to this specialty sector is more than welcome by an engineer such as myself.
As a civil engineer, I joined the insurance industry in late 1989. I suppose I was steered to the insurance sector, more so because I grabbed at the opportunity to become a part of one of the most progressive and enlightened corporate organisations at the time – but only so, because it was led by a truly great, insightful and inspiring leader – Mr Ernst Kahle.
In those days, the likes of Mr Kahle astutely read and understood the geo-political map and economic future of Africa and knew full well that, with Africa’s great future assured, there was indeed to be a need for development (infrastructure, industry, buildings, power stations, dams, and so on). With development, no, let me change that to read, DEVELOPMENT, came the need for the full gamut of insurance business! But, here for me, was the amazing insight of the man: he also knew that he had the chance as a corporate leader to utilise his position to unashamedly direct corporate finances to empower people. To nurture and develop people (he was all about transformation when Sector Charters and SETAs were not even conceived) by providing local staff with heaps (and leaps) of opportunities and ensuring they were trained and skilled – and that people progressed and prospered. In this way, all through the region, new local insurance talent blossomed. I can wax lyrical about the notable inherent long-term business strategy of it all (especially for the insurance industry) but let me not digress.
So, we too as staff, within the ‘tangible’ spirit of that particular style of highly progressive corporate leadership, fully understood the strategy of ‘deepening and broadening the insurance supply chain’ (or, to use another hackneyed buzz-word, the ‘cradle to grave’ service-offering opportunities for insurance) and lived and breathed it with great fervour and purpose. We also knew that, as engineers, we were to ensure (not only insure) that the pure risks of the new-build projects were fully appreciated and that all parallel or follow-on insurance lines benefitted from that intelligence.
So much so, that I always recall, albeit with some present-day embarrassment at our then brazenness, how I and a team of quality-engineers, rather egotistically came up, as hosts of an engineering-insurance market conference for Southern African participants, with the following seminal theme:
Engineering-Insurances at the fore-front of the African Renaissance.
And with that, I trust, my point is well made about the continuing way forward, for the engineering insurance class of business.
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