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It becomes even more difficult for someone to lead one of the youngest insurance firms in a country that is already flooded with renowned players in the insurance business and have been around for a very long time.
One such individual who is out to take on that task and determined to make an impact in the insurance industry is Champions Insurance Company managing director Mr Nathan Chikono.
“The good thing about being fairly new on the market is that you have to be more innovative compared to the older players because for you to get market share, you have to come up with new ideas distinctively different from those already in the market in order to excite the customers so that they can actually see the need to shift from their current insurer to you for a particular product or service,” he said.
Mr Chikono said that the damage caused to the country’s economy at the height of the hyperinflationary period had an equally negative impact on the insurance industry which is yet to fully recover.
Over the past year or so there were reports that the insurance industry is realising around US$150 million in turnover compared to a historic peak level of around US$600 million in the 1990s.
Despite all this, Mr Chikono does not feel intimidated by players who have been in the sector for much longer as he feels the introduction of a multi-currency regime brought all companies to a “new” start.
“The country’s insurance industry is still building its capacity like any other business in Zimbabwe after having suffered a lot during the period of hyperinflation when a company’s balance sheet could easily evaporate, so in 2009 we had to start all over again.
“This therefore gave us leverage in a way as we basically started from the same footing though we were a young company compared to our competitors,” added Mr Chikono.
Champions Insurance Company was incorporated in June 2003 as a short-term insurance company offering a wide range of short-term products for both individual and corporate clients. It has built expertise and capacity in the years it has operated in the country and its presence is growing in various sectors of the economy. Mr Chikono attributes his success to the management team at Champions and clients whose support he described as overwhelming.
“I receive overwhelming support from the team at Champions and our clients, this gives me the courage and zeal to soldier on as it shows that they believe in my capabilities to lead the organisation, they are amazing,” he said.
Mr Chikono’s insurance career spans two decades having started in 1993 as a trainee underwriter with the National Insurance Company of Zimbabwe and other insurance companies in different capacities.
In 2003 Mr Chikono was appointed Tristar Insurance company general manager operations before being elevated to become managing director in March 2008, a position he held until June 2011 after which he went on to join Champions Insurance as the managing director, a position he still holds.
Asked on whether he was into insurance by design or accident, Mr Chikono was quick to point out that he developed a soft spot for insurance at the time he was in secondary school.
“I started appreciating insurance in secondary school when we started doing commerce which I developed interest in, I really wanted to follow that avenue and therefore I am not into insurance by accident or by chance, I am a career insurer and I had always wanted to take that route. My wish came to fruition after completing my studies when two opportunities arose, one at Old Mutual and the other at Nicoz and I found myself opting for the latter where I joined as a trainee underwriter and I can say from that time onwards I have risen through the ranks to where I am today,” added Mr Chikono.
Born 41 years ago as the second child in a family of three boys and two girls, Nathan grew up in the communal areas of Bindura working in the fields as it was the norm.
He attended Chiveso Primary School before proceeding to Chipadze Secondary School and Chipindura High School for his A-levels.
Mr Chikono holds Bachelor of Commerce degree in Insurance and Risk Management, a Master of Arts degree in Leadership and Management and a Master of Commerce degree in business management.
He is currently in the final year of his DBA with Walden University of the United States. Mr Chikono is also an Associate and Fellow of the Insurance Institute of South Africa and a member of the Zimbabwe Institute of Management.
Early last month Mr Chikono was appointed onto the new Air Zimbabwe board as a non-executive director.
His insurance skills and expertise cover an array of disciplines that include strategic leadership, enterprise risk management, underwriting, portfolio management and performance management. Asked on where he wants to be career wise in the next 10 years, Mr Chikono said he had reached what he regards as the personhood stage and does not see himself ever seeking employment elsewhere again.
“Being managing director of a company l do not see myself looking for employment in the next decade as l feel l have reached the stage where my focus on is the desire to have an impact on and influence the society that I live in and serve it using the skills that I possess by using insurance as a development tool to better the lives of the Zimbabwean citizenry.
“To me by so doing, this gives me a sense of fulfilment,” he said.
“To that effect I am also happy to say as Champions we are involved in a number of national projects and this actually shows how insurance can be used as a tool for national development.
“We are the insurers of the massive Tokwe-Mukosi Dam project in collaboration with a number of both local and foreign insurers with whom we pooled capacity in order to provide adequate cover for the project,” he added.
Some of the major projects in which Mr Chikono has worked in include being part of the team that set up the operations controls, creating the underwriting philosophy, operational risk management plans, establishment of ICT infrastructure and staff recruitment, training, development and performance management at Tristar Insurance during its formative years.
He also, together with the assistance of the EcoCash team made it possible to deliver micro-insurance via Econet Wireless’ EcoCash platform through which Champions Insurance clients can pay their insurance premiums and receive claims settlement via the mobile money platform.
On who inspires him, Mr Chikono conceded that the country is endowed with many successful and influential business people such that he draws his inspirations from many of them.
“Zimbabwe is blessed with many intelligent and successful business people so my inspiration is rather drawn from corporates as opposed to individuals as their combined efforts have brought success to their organisations.
“Companies such as Econet Wireless and Delta Corporation are among some of the most successful in the country and I believe small and emerging companies can take a leaf from how these companies conduct their business from how they advertise to how they effectively communicate with their customers.
Mr Chikono is married to Tarisai and the couple have two daughters, Ashley and Annette and a son Alvin.
Online Reporter