Paris-based firm OLEA Insurance Solutions has announced the appointment of a new CEO. Anthony Wachira will replace the outgoing CEO, Herbert Ocholi, the founder of OLEA Kenya Insurance Solutions, as from April 1, 2023.
Wachira has a solid and proven Kenyan and regional insurance market background. He joined OLEA Kenya in 2021 in a management position. Before then, he worked at Minet and Alexander Forbes. Some of his big wins were steering profitable growth strategies, while forging lasting relationships.
(TOP: Anthony Wachira, CEO, OLEA Kenya Insurance Solutions).
OLEA Insurance solutions entered the Kenyan market in 2019 after buying a 40% stake in the Kenyan Koolridge Insurance Brokers. The acquisition came with a name change to OLEA Kenya Insurance Brokers.
“The OLEA Insurance partnership was a great feat for our company,” said outgoing CEO and Founder, Herbert Ocholi. “As fate would have it, the Covid pandemic hit the world a few months later, and our company suffered the same devastation and loss of business as most businesses. But, we managed to survive due to our clients’ utmost confidence in us.”
In Africa, OLEA Insurance Solutions has a footprint in 38 Countries 24 being subsidiaries and 14 correspondents. The company recently made a foray into South Africa. Plans are also underway to open offices in Uganda later on this year.
“Our continental spread allowed us to acquire business from international brokers who do not have a presence in Kenya. That, together with new business opportunities from local companies contributed to our ability to survive the Covid Pandemic devastation. Indeed, we can attribute our continued growth and success to the very same reasons,” concluded Ocholi.
One of Wachira‘s most significant tasks in his new role is to spearhead business expansion within the country. His focus, amongst other things, will be to identify and maximize new business opportunities in health products, aviation and the hospitality industry.
Ocholi will transition to the role of the Executive Director of the OLEA Kenyan Board and the OLEA Group’s Technical Director for East Africa.
Ocholi, who has been in the insurance industry for over 40 years, started Koolridge Kenya as an agency in 2014. A year later, it became a fully-fledged brokerage firm serving local insurers across various business segments.
Other insurers recommended Koolridge to OLEA, which was scouting for a lean brokerage firm that could manage big-ticket jobs. This led to OLEA assigning Koolridge its first international-cum-African cross-border task to restructure an insurance package for a leading global logistics firm.
Olivier Dubois and Olivier Canuel founded OLEA Group in partnership with SIACI SAINT HONORE, one of the French leaders in insurance brokerage and consultancy services, which gives it an indirect interest in OLEA Kenya.
Olea serves French business international accounts in Africa and represents international broking houses.
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