A deal between Sanlam and MTN Group to sell insurance and investment products across Africa has been approved after fulfilling regulatory, competition and other requirements.

The transaction was effective from October 31, 2022 with the strategic alliance set to be implemented through MTN’s InsurTech platform aYo Holdings (aYo).

According to the deal, each of the partners will hold a 50 per cent stake in aYo.

The telecoms giant and pan-African financial services company say they will continue creating digital insurance and investment offerings across the continent through aYO.

MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said the strategic alliance was aligned with the firm’s intention to lead the progress being made in Africa in offering digital solutions.

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“We are confident that this alliance will build and leverage the strengths and assets of both companies to establish a digital insurance and investment capability across Africa,” said Mupita.


“We are delighted to reach such a critical stage in our drive to deepen penetration of insurance and investment products across Africa through strategic partnerships. We are confident that a strong foundation is in place for this alliance. Sanlam believes that this strategic alliance with the MTN Group will make a considerable contribution to financial inclusion in Africa,” said Sanlam Group CEO Paul Hanratty.

Firms in Africa have been experiencing success in mobile financial and fintech services, especially those offering products like loans, insurance, payments as well as e-wallets.

MTN's InsurTech business registered 17.9 million aYo policy holders by the end of June 2022, a rise of 31.9 per cent year-on-year and targets to register 30 million policies by 2025.

Also, aYo raked in $4.7 million in premium income and $2.8 million in service revenue in the first half of 2022 and MTN believes the Sanlam deal will further grow its InsurTech in Africa.