Kenya-based insurer and reinsurer Zep Re, also known as PTA Reinsurance Company, has been denied expansion into the Zimbabwe marketplace after President Mugabe rejected the Zep Re (Membership of Zimbabwe and Branch Office Agreement) Bill, according to industry reports.
The Bill is designed to enable the insurance and reinsurance company to expand its business offerings and capabilities across Africa and into the Zimbabwe market, and sought to address and conclude regulatory matters surrounding legal capacity and certain privileges/immunities of Zep Re to be fully recognised in Zimbabwe, reports online Zimbabwe publication, Chronicle.
Zep Re recently became just the second foreign reinsurer to obtain a hosting agreement by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) and subsequently establish a regional branch, but its plans for expansion into the Zimbabwe marketplace appears to have been stalled by President Mugabe.
According to speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda, President Mugabe had reservations about the bill because of a lack of clarity surrounding certain sections.
“His excellency, the President, informed Parliament on the 2 June, 2017 that he had not assented to the Zep Re (Membership of Zimbabwe and Branch Office Agreement) Act No.4 of 2017 owing to reservations pertaining to the last paragraph of the preamble on the top page of the act. The President noted that the sentence in question was not clear on what should be done and who was responsible for the stated enactment,” said Mudenda, in a recent announcement in Parliament.
Reports explain that for the Bill to be reconsidered it must be recommitted to the committee of the entire National Assembly.
According to Chronicle, Zep Re is also looking to become a member of the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Association of Reinsurance.
