Mother Teresa once said that if you cannot feed 1000 people then feed just one. In a layman’s language, you do not need to have achieved a lot in order to help someone. Appreciating that he can make a difference in the society in whatever he does has changed his perception of life.
By Wachera Maina
From a glance, the high achieving young executive strikes you as a humble person. Something else you notice about Humphrey Mwangi, a senior underwriter at African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) is, for lack of a better word, his youthful charm. He is one person who is pleasant to talk to and as he opens up his world to you, you realize that he has the right words to paint the whole picture as it is.
He has never practised accounting despite the fact that he is an accountant by profession. His dream was to become a banker and after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Kenyatta University in 2000, he landed a job at Stanbic Bank. He worked in the corporate credit department for close to four years starting out as a credit analyst and rising to become credit manager.
He was later posted to the bank’s head office in Johannesburg, South Africa. He worked there for two years in the Africa credit department as the credit manager with oversight for Central and Southern Africa. In his six year stint with the bank, Humphrey was responsible for due diligence and structuring of lending transactions and was also involved in some of Africa’s most prominent corporate and project finance deals.
In 2006, Humphrey returned to Kenya to join ATI as an underwriting officer with responsibility for all aspects of underwriting and liaising with local and international financial and insurance companies for business development. Two years later, he went to do a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) majoring in finance at Boston University in the United States of America (USA). He graduated in 2009 and returned to ATI, taking post as the Acting Chief Underwriting Officer.
Humphrey currently deputizes the Chief Underwriting Officer and is part of the team that drives the company’s business development strategies. This team develops new products and strategies to enhance ATI’s presence in Africa, besides generating revenue for the organization. The business development department is supported by other departments within ATI.
Protecting African trade and investments
As a finance and credit risk expert, Humphrey not only strives to understand the environment which he operates in, but also the importance of transforming Africa into a prime trade and investment destination. With an ATI guarantee, investors can operate safely in Africa. Being a big continent, many African countries have shown commitment to creating a conducive environment for investors. Economic surveys have shown that many African countries are emerging economies and therefore investors are developing interest in the continent.
ATI aims to promote trade and investment in Africa and reduce the cost of doing business by helping investors mitigate against risk. The African owned international financial institution provides political risk insurance against currency inconvertibility, expropriation, war and civil unrest.
During the post election violence in 2009, many local and international investors were affected as they did not have insurance against political unrest. Unfortunately the insurance regulator in Kenya does not allow insurance against such risks. Nevertheless through ATI, local insurance companies have been able to provide political risk insurance to companies to cushion them against specific losses that might negatively impact their performance.
The company also offers credit risk insurance (a powerful business tool) that protects the policy holder against possible payment default by debtors. For example, if you are an exporter, an insurance policy would cover your domestic and international debtors. ATI insures a credit period of up to one year with the possibility of longer periods as the underlying transaction dictates.
“Our insurance policies are done through partnerships with insurers and banks. The partners enable ATI to increase available resources to support African trade and investments and maximize the benefits of cooperation amongst insurers within the same risk market,” explains Humphrey. Through these partnerships, ATI is able to extend its products to Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) as well as Microfinance institutions (MFIs). There is no minimum criterion for insurance with ATI. “By working with such institutions, we are able to reach to as many small businesses as possible.”
So far ATI has a strong working relationship with several African countries which include Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Madagascar, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania and Burundi with Kenya as the agency’s head quarters. In a bid to boost its presence in Africa, the agency plans to bring more countries on board especially through regional economic blocks.
ATI is continuously identifying and addressing the rising needs of its clients. The agency has been able to achieve this through intense market research which has enabled them to understand the challenges faced by individual countries in the region and to offer solutions addressing the unique challenges while at the same time working around opportunities such as available resources.
‘A’ rating
According to Humphrey, it is through team work and hard work that ATI has been able to grow over the last 10 years. ATI is committed to fully training and equipping its staff to be the best in the business and finance industry. The dedicated team, which Humphrey calls “Africa’s best brains” has been able to deliver impressive growth figures including a 123 percent increase in the number of policies written in 2009. The team is looking forward to recording a much better performance in the coming years as it has a strong vision for Africa.
ATI’s remarkable performance and service delivery has earned it global recognition. In 2008, ATI earned an ‘A’ rating by Standard & Poor’s. In 2009 and 2010, the credit rating was re-confirmed when Standard & Poor’s renewed ATI’s long term stable ‘A’ rating consequently retaining the status of one of Africa’s highest rated institution in terms of credibility and ability to meet its financial obligations. Last year, ATI was ranked among the top institutions by the World Bank in an audit of institutions supported by the World Bank.
Dedicated to charity
His career involves a lot of travelling and never-ending meetings but he loves what he does. “Being a senior underwriter in a company that is the sole operator in the industry, calls for a lot of hard work. I have grown to become a professional in this industry and ATI has instilled a lot in me,” shares Humphrey.
Despite his busy schedule, Humphrey dedicates time in charitable causes, his favourite being a children’s home in Nairobi that caters for abandoned children. Playing with the children and listening to their dreams and aspirations has helped him realize how privileged he has been in life.
While at Boston University, he was the only African student in his class. This is because the programme is expensive for many African students in addition to its very rigorous admissions process. He therefore decided to set aside a certain amount of money which he has dedicated to educating any needy African student enrolled at the university’s MBA program in the hope to expand the African representation at the program.
The other side of Humphrey
He loves playing squash, golf and football which he says are healthy habits. He is an Arsenal fan and his greatest sporting moment was when he watched an Arsenal game live at Emirates Stadium in October during the 2010 English Premier League season. He calls it “the Emirates pilgrimage” – a must for every Arsenal fan.
He is greatly inspired by entrepreneurs who take risks, especially young professionals who quit their jobs and venture into the unknown and end up making it in their businesses. He hopes to be an entrepreneur in the future.
His diary
7.00 am – 8.00 pm Arrives at the office, reads through financial reports and journals just to be informed on what is happening in the world and looks at some of the policies that have been drawn up by colleagues and gives his input on them.
He also sits in management meetings to brief the company’s executives on business performance and liaises regularly with colleagues in ATI’s offices.
1.00 pm – 2.00 pm- has lunch in the office because most of the time he has to attend to clients abroad who call in for assistance.
On most occasions he leaves the office way after regular working hours are over.
