NAIROBI, 14 February 2017 – Today, the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) announced the retirement of its Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO). During Mr. Vincent’s five-year tenure as head of business, ATI outperformed expectations. He adeptly led the team to achieve an average 185% increase in gross exposure, a 180% increase in written premium and a 280% increase in ATI’s Net Underwriting profit moving the company from a loss making institution to profitability.
These statistics underscore a vital transformation that was largely spearheaded by Mr. Vincent – ATI has now developed a solid international reputation as an effective provider of risk solutions for trade and investment transactions in Africa.
Mr. Vincent was also a pioneer of many projects including automating the underwriting process, pushing for African central banks to offer capital relief to insured banks – which was achieved in DR Congo and Zambia, securing €2 million in technical assistance from the European Investment Bank and most notably, positioning ATI as a center of excellence in not just African risk but also in the energy sector.
The energy sector initiative is a project that Mr. Vincent developed with strategic partners including development finance institutions (DFIs), insurers and reinsurers that are active in the field. The initiative is expected to roll out this year.
“Together with the Management team, Mr. Vincent laid out a vision for the company that will guide ATI for many years to come, and this gives us great confidence about ATI’s future success” noted the CEO, Mr. George Otieno.
Prior to Mr. Vincent’s retirement, the board of directors recruited Mr. John Lentaigne as his successor. Mr. Lentaigne joined ATI in October 2016 working closely with Mr. Vincent during this transition phase. Prior to joining ATI, Mr. Lentaigne served as the Co-head of Political & Credit Risks at Brit in London.
“2017 presents great opportunities for ATI. A new strategic plan will be in place this quarter, Côte d’Ivoire is soon completing its membership and we are now fully pan African. ATI is confident that Mr. Lentaigne will ably lead the business to the next frontier,” added Mr. Otieno.
