A new insurance company, Lucy, launched operations in the Ethiopian Insurance sector last week after receiving license to operate from the National Bank at the beginning of the last month.
Lucy Insurance was founded by 13 business people to become the 16th insurance company in the country said Alemseged Abraham, chief Executive of the company.
The Share Company collected 8.03 million birr in paid up capital from 39 shareholders and held its first annual General Meeting last March.
Over the next seven months the company undertook a feasibility study and handled the registration of each shareholder with the Documents Authentication and Registration office to meet the requirements set by the National Bank.The Insurer will only provide coverage for general insurance at this stage of its operations but plans to offer life insurance in the future.
Lucy expects to offer insurance in a manner that is different from the current practice of other insurers planning to maintain just one branch in Addis as claims are only paid at the main branch noted Alemesged.
The insurer can still be accessible to customers and promote its services through insurance brokers and hired agents without requiring branch offices he said.
The insurer is currently based in offices on Debre Zeit Road. The insurance company expects to make more sales public in the near future and an estimated 500 people have already expressed their interest in buying shares at the time said Alemseged.
Source: Fortune
