Aon Botswana hosted a first-of-a-kind client seminar for its clients in the Maun and surrounding areas. According to the insurance company, the seminar was intended to, among other things, introduce the firm’s executive committee to the clients and update them on the latest developments from the company.
In his presentation, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, the Managing Director of Aon, discussed the changing landscape of customer engagement in the insurance and brokerage industry. He highlighted the importance of engaging and connecting in a meaningfully way with clients in order to keep them abreast of essential developments so that they could make informed decisions regarding their covers.
“This is the ideal platform for each client to find out first-hand what the vision and plan for Aon Botswana is, and most importantly, to meet the executive committee members in a relaxed environment,” said Dr Matsheka.
Aon globally and in sub-Sahara Africa is the leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting and speciality insurance underwriting.
Locally, the company is the largest corporate insurance broker in the country and has been operating since 1971. It has over 100 employees, with offices in Gaborone, Maun, Francistown and Selebi Phikwe.
Aon Botswana has a unit called Aon Risk Management which operates as an independent company, and was set up as an International Financial Services Company (IFSC) in line with Aon Risk objectives. It serves as a regional resource centre to the mining, heavy industry sector and any other industry in the sub-Saharan region of Africa.
When talking about risks, Dr Matsheka emphasised that globally economic uncertainty remains the main and on-going concern of businesses, followed closely by regulatory changes.
“How companies manage capital and profits against a backdrop of deepening strategic risks arising from economic, political, competitive and regulatory factors will be a key focus for all boards in the foreseeable future.
On the upside, the uncertainty is an important external driver to strengthen risk management within organisations. Companies are working hard towards better understanding their range of unique risks, optimising their insurance programmes and lowering their total cost of risk. Risk remains firmly on the board agenda where the focus is on risk oversight and management.”
It is crucial for businesses to understand the nature and extent of the kinds of risks and threats to their operations and to take appropriate action to mitigate these risks. One way of doing this is by reviewing and strengthening their specialist insurance cover under the guidance and advice of a professional risk advisor. While it is difficult to predict which risk will emerge in 2014 and demand attention, we can be certain that successful companies will not be the ones that adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach. Instead they will be the ones that prepare themselves thoroughly to anticipate future needs and undertake the difficult process of finding solutions to address them. They will not just fix what is broken, but view their new circumstances as a portal to the next generation of business opportunity,”
“Our promise to our clients in managing such risk and opportunity is to understand their needs for tomorrow, and conduct our business in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards, underpinned by an unwavering commitment to personal and professional integrity, ethics, honesty and fair dealing,” emphasised Dr Matsheka.
This event was the second in a series of seminars which are to be held for Aon Botswana clients. The first was held last month for the Francistown clientele and the third and final seminar of this nature for 2013 will be held in Gaborone for clients in the southern region of the country in the near future.
