Nine leadership questions for Emeka Akwiwu, Executive Director, Continental Reinsurance Plc.

Emeka Akwiwu is a highly skilled professional with over two decades of experience in the Insurance/Reinsurance industry. He began his career in insurance before transitioning to a career in reinsurance by joining General Reinsurance in 2001. He fulfilled various roles and rose to Sub Sahara Regional Manager for P&C with a focus on the profitable growth of the portfolio. In 2021, Emeka joined Continental Re  where he is the Group Executive Director overseeing all operational strategies, ensuring excellence, integrityand responsiveness in delivering tailored risk solutions across Africa.

1. How long have you been the Group Executive Director at Continental Re?

I joined Continental Re in December 2021 after spending 20 years with my previous employer.. I felt I was ripe for a new challenge so when the Continental Re opportunity became available, it was an easy decision to make.

2. How have your previous roles prepared you for your current role.... Any challenges, highlights or learnings? 

A career in insurance is probably the best-kept secret. I started my career in 1998 in a postroom in Manchester, UK, for the Independent Insurance Group plc. Since then I have had various roles which have transitioned into leadership positions. The core of this transition is a dedication to self-improvement and an ability to share this. Since then, learning has been at the core of everything I do.  

Through dedication and a commitment to being the best version of yourself, the opportunities are limitless. As you strive to deliver at a very high level, you get exposed to more, and with that comes more learning. From this, I have been exposed to a lot of amazing people and markets globally. I consider it a privilege to be in a position to share the learnings with my colleagues and the market at large. 

3. Having been in international leadership positions for over a decade, what would you point out as an effective leader's top qualities?

For me, Leadership is really about service. To achieve this at a very high level, the critical attribute is Authenticity; people relate more with you when they know how genuine you are. This builds up trust and a willingness to follow. 

The second thing I would say is to be clear about your purpose; matching your authenticity with your purpose really creates an environment that allows you to influence those around you to achieve a common goal. 

Finally, I would say having a Coaching/Mentoring ability. My true measure of success is the ability to enable and empower those who can replace me through a coaching and knowledge-sharing process. 

4. What would you say are Continental Re's top priority areas for the next three years?

Our clients are at the core of everything we do at Continental Re, and as such, we are focused on making the interaction between us a smooth and effortless one for them. Part of this is focused on standardizing our processes across the continent. We aim for our client experience to be the same from Tunis to Gaborone. As a result, we are focusing on standardizing data, digitalizing our interactions with the market, and future-proofing our business as we maximize AI and automation within our operations. We aim to continue building on the value we bring to the market by using local capacity at Global Standards to solve local challenges.

5. As one of the leading international reinsurers, how do you attract and retain talent?

We are very clear about wanting the best hands working at Continental Re. To achieve this, we have to create an environment based on meritocracy, transparency, and accountability. The final ingredient in this mix is the vision of Leadership. We are all very passionate about Africa, and we have a very clear picture of what needs to be achieved to close the insurance gap for the benefit of all stakeholders.

We continue to challenge market norms across the continent in a collaborative manner to raise the bar in accordance with global best practices. This is very attractive not just to the younger generations but also to anyone who wants to make a positive impact on the continent. 

6. How do you see technology playing a much more significant role in how financial, including insurance/reinsurance products are developed and distributed in the next few years?

To me, the future revolves around technology. To leverage this, I believe the African insurance industry must initiate discussions about standardizing data where none currently exists and develop methods to collect this data over time, as it is the driving force behind any necessary innovation. Failing to address this now will lead to significant disruptions in the industry.

7. What would you point out as key areas of concern for the insurance/reinsurance sector in the next three to five years?

I want to narrow this down to Africa's insurance/reinsurance industry. 

• Structured Data:Across Africa, excluding South Africa, the need for more data is a consistent challenge I encounter as I travel through various markets on the continent. Consequently, we often rely on European data to make decisions applicable to African scenarios. I envision a future where we prioritize generating data across the continent to accurately reflect our markets, risks, and outcomes. With technology, we should be able to gather data from diverse sources, structure it, and make it useful for our purposes. This would represent a significant advancement for both the industry and the broader economies.
• Capital Efficiency:Currently, across the continent, there is the push for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), yet we are also seeing quite a few markets become more protectionist in the sense that everyone is being pushed for local investments rather than how things are made more efficient. As an industry on the continent, we should embrace the idea of strong institutions and be allowed to trade across the continent. It's not capital-efficient for Continental Re to have 54 offices across the continent in order to provide reinsurance services to Africa. These and other such barriers are limiting factors to growing insurance penetration on the continent. 
• Strong institutions:Since insurance is an intangible product until a claim is made, it is crucial to build strong institutions with robust balance sheets and technical expertise to fulfill their promise of payment when claims arise. Strengthening these institutions will significantly enhance the industry's reputation among current and potential customers. This is especially important as climate-related events become more frequent across the continent.
• Climate change: This is now a risk we have to contend with in Africa as a whole. Developing expertise, collaborating with various stakeholders and building capacity is very critical for the sustainability and security of Africa.

8. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Say "no" more often than you would like, and read more voraciously. I know I said two, but I couldn't think of just one.

9. What is the one book you would recommend to your audience, and why?

Atomic Habits by James Clear, there are no silver bullets in Leadership; it is just a tonne of decision-making and expected outcomes. The book guides you through the process of accumulating small gains over time. As someone who is process-driven, I appreciate how it underscores the importance of every aspect of the chain and the need to pay attention to details. I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially since we need to embed numerous processes in our systems across the continent today.