Oasis Capital Ghana, manager of the Oasis Africa VC Fund (OAF), has announced a dual minority investment in Sonam Générale Assurances Côte d’Ivoire and Sonam Assurances Vie Côte d’Ivoire.

Sonam Générale Assurances CI is a non-life insurance company located in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and a subsidiary of the Pan-African Sonam Group.

The company focuses on the underwriting, distribution and servicing of non-life insurance products (automobile, health & accident, transportation, fire & property, public liability coverage and other diverse risks) to individuals and SMEs and ambitions to become a leading indigenous general insurance provider in Côte d’Ivoire.

Sonam Assurances Vie Côte d’Ivoire, formerly Axa Vie Côte d’Ivoire, will offer innovative life insurance products/service and improved customer interfacing.

The vision for Sonam Assurances Vie Côte d’Ivoire is to become a prominent player in the life insurance sector over next five years.

Oasis Africa VC Fund (OAF) is supporting the two companies to enable them to achieve their expansion strategy over the medium-term to improve insurance penetration rate and financial inclusion within the country.

Matthew Boadu Adjei, CEO of Oasis, said: “Financial services, and insurance in particular, is still in a very nascent stage in Africa and within the sub-region. By partnering with the Sonam Group, we are working with a skilled insurance operator to expand insurance coverage and promote better financial literacy and access. We are optimistic of the growth ahead for this sector in Côte d’Ivoire.”

Malick Ouattara, Partner and CI Country Head at Oasis, added: “We are delighted about this partnership with a pan African group such as Sonam Group, insurance leader in Senegal. We are looking forward to working with the management teams of both companies to support strategic initiatives to seize the opportunities offered by this significant untapped market while helping the companies to strengthen their governance.” 

Oasis Capital Ghana was established in February 2009 as a growth and venture capital fund manager and currently has offices in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire.