Corneille Karekezi, CEO, Africa Re
The African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) announces new appointments at senior management level.
Guy B. FOKOU: Director of Human Resources
Mr. Guy B. FOKOU has over 18 years of experience in human resource management at managerial level. He joined Africa Re in 2014 as Assistant Director of Human Resources & Administration and rose to the position of Deputy Director of Human Resources & Administration in 2018. He was appointed Director of Human Resources on 1 June 2019.
Prior to joining Africa Re, Mr. Fokou has worked in various reputable organisations in Cameroon, including ACTIVA Assurances as Director of Human Resources, Ecobank as Assistant Director of Human Resources, TOTAL as Director of Human Resources & Administration/Company Secretary, MultiprintSérigraphie as Director of Human Resources, and SOS Children’s Villages covering 13 countries in West and Central Africa as Regional HR & OD Advisor.
Linda BWAKIRA: Corporate Secretary and General Counsel
Mrs. Linda Bwakira has over 18 years of diverse and progressive experience in international financial institutions and legal services.
Prior to joining Africa Re, Mrs. Bwakira has worked in Global Corporate and Investment banks, namely Natixis Group and IXIS in France, Africa-based development financial institutionsincluding the African Development Bank and the Trade & Development Bank . She also worked in different law firms in Europe including Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Landwell Brussels (PwC Legal arm) and Jansen & Associés Brussels. Her expertise includes financial services,corporate governance and legal services.
Prior to joining Africa Re, she was the Corporate Secretary of the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB).
She was appointed Corporate Secretary and General Counsel on 17 October 2019.
Adil ESSOUKKANI: Director of Information and Communication Technology
Mr Adil ESSOUKKANI has over 15 years of experience in information technology management in the insurance industry. He has occupied many managerial positions in the African insurance industry.
Prior to joining Africa Re, Mr. Adil ESSOUKKANI was Chief Information Officer of SAHAM Angola Seguros. He has equally worked as Project Director in SAHAM Finances, Director of the software factory of SAHAM Finance Group developing insurance software covering all insurance lines of business also designinginsurance processes for all group subsidiaries. He was Head of IT in a leasing company (WAFABAIL) Project Manager in AXA insurance Morocco and also as business analyst in the same company dealing with Non-life and finance processes.
He was appointed Director of Information and Communication Technology on 2 September 2019.
Phocas NYANDWI: Director of Central Operations and Special Risks
Mr. Phocas NYANDWI has over 20 years of experience both in life and non-life insurance. He occupied various managerial positions in the industry, especially in East and Southern Africa. He worked in the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) as non-life underwriter in charge of francophone markets. He was also an active member of the technical committee of the Association of Kenyan Reinsurers (AKR). He joined Africa Re in 2010 as treaty and facultative underwriter in the Nairobi Regional Office, where he rose to the rank of Assistant Director, Underwriting and Marketing.
Mr. Phocas NYANDWI was appointed Director of Central Operations and Special Risks in the head office on 1 August 2019.
Yvonne PALM: Director of Risk Management, Compliance and Actuarial Services
Ms. Yvonne Naa Korkor PALM has over 13 years of experience in actuarial practice.
Prior to joining Africa Re, she served as the Lead Corporate Actuary at Travelers Syndicate Management in London, overseeing reserving, technical provisions, business planning and reporting of results to regulators and management.
She worked in various reputable international organisationsincluding Ernst & Young in the USA, serving as the lead actuarial analyst for multinational clients including (re)insurers andcaptives. She also held senior actuarial positions at Markel International and ACE European Group.
She was appointed Director of Risk Management, Compliance and Actuarial Services on 27 November 2019.
Mr. Corneille Karekezi, the Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, while commenting on the appointments said: “We are delighted to have the new directors on board. We look forward to giving them the necessary support to deliver on theirjob. The aim of these changes, which are results-oriented, is to reinvigorate the entire Africa Re workforce to successfully implement the 2019 -2023 Strategy Plan”.
Africa Re was established in 1976 by 36 member States of the African Union and the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re), the leading reinsurance company in Africa and the Middle East, is a pan-African financial institution whose shareholding is split between African (75%) and Non-African (25%) investors. African shareholding comprises 41 African states, the AfDB and more than 100 African insurance/reinsurance companies from the 41 member countries. Headquartered in Lagos (Nigeria), Africa Re has a continental network of regional and local offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Casablanca (Morocco), Nairobi (Kenya), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Ebène (Mauritius), Cairo (Egypt) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) as well as two subsidiaries: Africa Re (South Africa) Ltd in Johannesburg and Africa Retakaful Ltd in Cairo (Egypt).
