The NSIA group presents this Tuesday, December 22 its results for the 2019 financial year, a rather fruitful year before the crisis caused by Covid-19. Despite the current context, the firm intends to confirm its leadership in bancassurance in West and Central Africa. For La Tribune Afrique, Managing Director Janine Kacou Diagou argues these forecasts, reviews the group's performance and discusses, among other things, the catalytic role that the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zlecaf) could play in the development of the bancassurance.

La Tribune Afrique - The year 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the NSIA group. What is your assessment of what this quarter-century journey has been like? Janine Kacou Diagou - First of all, it's a great pride shared by all the teams. We must realize the path traveled since only 1995, when our CEO Jean Kacou Diagou launched the family business the New Interafrican Insurance Company in Côte d'Ivoire with 10 employees and a capital of 300 million CFA francs, today now NSIA, the leader in bancassurance in West and Central Africa, established in 12 countries with 2,800 employees. The lesson I draw from this is the importance of a long-term vision combined with high-level governance. Even if our growth has been rapid, it has been built gradually within the framework of a strategic development plan with qualified human resources at all levels. Taking the time to analyze ecosystems, giving yourself the means to invest to guarantee long-term returns rather than aiming for short-term profitability are key elements for the success of a company the size of the our. The group has just unveiled its 2019 results. What are the key figures to remember? 2019 was an excellent operational year, allowing us to strengthen our financial solidity shortly before the outbreak of the Covid-19 economic crisis that we are experiencing today. Thus, in 2019, we increased the share capital of the Holding to 30 billion FCFA, while our total balance sheet was up by 9%, rising to 1,654,034 million FCFA, thus strengthening our financial credibility in the eyes of investors and rating agencies. I would like to emphasize that our two banking and insurance divisions contributed to this performance in 2019: +7,487 million FCFA in net income for the insurance division and +6,139 million FCFA for the banking division. More than ever, 2019 confirmed our leading position in bancassurance in the countries where we operate, a position which should be confirmed in 2020 and 2021. 2020 was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic which caused a slowdown unprecedented business. How has the insurance sector in Africa, in which your group is heavily invested, experienced this crisis? What will be the biggest challenges for this sector in the context of recovery? This pandemic is a turning point in the insurance sector in Africa. As a result of the health shock, many business sectors have come to a standstill. The Insurance division of the NSIA group has not escaped this phenomenon. We had good performances, but that would have been better if we hadn't had this global pandemic. We have learned from this situation and reinvented ourselves by further developing the Digital component. We have assisted our customers with activity compensation offers, for those who had subscribed to it (operating loss insurance). We have also through the NSIA Foundation contributed to the fight against the spread of COVID-19 with a cumulative donation of nearly 400 million FCFA. We have drawn on our resources to withstand the shock, but it seems important to us to note that the action of our various States could strengthen the management of this disaster at the level of the populations. In addition to bancassurance, the NSIA group which also does real estate. Established in 12 West and Central African countries, how does the group intend to support economic recovery in each of these markets? First of all, I would like to commend the great responsiveness of regulators, who immediately took measures to ensure financial stability in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, which should reduce the risks of systemic failure of banking systems. With regulators and governments, we work closely together to help revive the economy in each of the countries where we operate. Aware of our role in financing the economy, the NSIA Group will continue to direct its financing strategy towards the real economy, in particular SMEs. The challenge for us is to avoid a tightening of bank credit with a sharp reduction in the number of new loans that could aggravate the recession while being vigilant about the situation of the companies we support. We also work with international donors, as evidenced by the granting of a one-year loan of 25 million euros to NSIA Banque Côte d'Ivoire last July by the International Finance Corporation , a member from the World Bank Group , to enable our Ivorian subsidiary to extend new loans to finance trade or the working capital needs of cash-strapped businesses. The NSIA Group continues to refocus on its core business which is Banking and Insurance. After a difficult year on a global scale, how do you foresee 2021, in the light of the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zlecaf)? What do you think this market of 1.7 billion consumers represents for the bancassurance sector? 2021 must be the year of rebound for African economies, after a year 2020 which slowed down our growth trajectory somewhat. And for that, Zlecaf must be more than ever a priority for African countries. This economic crisis has once again revealed our excessive exposure to external shocks. Better regional integration will allow us to better respond to this type of crisis, both economically and health-wise. As a bank-insurance group, we already see a huge opportunity in this linked to the demography of the continent, given the emergence of a significant middle class in all African countries with growing purchasing power. This middle class will increasingly demand insurance and banking products to support its needs. Finally, better economic integration with the free movement of capital should contribute to an acceleration of the consolidation of the sector. Today, those who already have solid capital and high-performance digital tools are in the best position to face the upcoming transformations of the market. You also chair the BJKD Foundation, which will internationalize its prize for young entrepreneurship from 2021, with the ambition of supporting more than 1,000 projects in the coming years. What motivates this orientation? First of all, I believe that professional success must always be combined with personal convictions. It started by campaigning for the establishment of the NSIA Foundation, which has been working mainly in the education of our children since 2014. Moreover, as a personality from the economic world committed to the development of our continent, I obviously have a strong focus on African entrepreneurs who are contributing to the transformation of our economies. Although each African country has its specificities, I believe that African entrepreneurs face common challenges: difficulty of financing, access to energy, administrative obstacles... And yet, African creativity and innovation are without equivalent in the world, with an entrepreneurial ecosystem showing strong resilience in these times of crisis. By internationalizing this award, I want to honor African entrepreneurs, especially women, who are building Africa's future today.