By ABDUL OLALEKAN
Following the recent sale of International Energy Insurance (IEI) Ghana to Heritage Bank, IEI Plc has said, such development will not affect its operation in Nigeria.
IEI is a Nigeria insurance firm, with special interest in underwriting of oil and gas businesses. When it was announced a fortnight ago that IEI Ghana has become Heritage Energy Insurance (HEI), there was rumour that its Nigeria office could also be offered for sale.
However, when Business 247 contacted the company over the weekend on this development, the Head, Corporate Communications & Brand Management, IEI Plc, Tamuno Kiri, debunk such insinuation, saying, nothing of such will happen to its Nigeria office.
According to him, “As far back as 2009, we have offshore office in Ghana. At some point, it was ceded out and that was what Heritage Bank bought into. So, it’s no longer under IEI purview. The development has no linkage with our operation in Nigeria.”
Recently, IEI Ghana rebranded and changed its name to Heritage Energy Insurance (HEI), which it said, was in a move to capture and gain more market presence in Ghana.
The change of the company’s name also formed part of the management’s plan to introduce innovative products that would suit the Ghanaian market.
At the rebranding ceremony in Accra, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uche Okugo, said after eight years of the firm’s operations in Ghana; it was time for the company to rebrand and make its presence felt more in the country.
“We plan to bring out a new identity. Our new shareholders and parent company in Nigeria, Heritage Bank, intends to ensure that HEI becomes a leading brand in Ghana,” he said.
He urged Ghanaians to consider insurance as a new way of securing their future and disabuse their minds of the negative notion that insurance is for vehicles, the rich or those who are approaching their death.
The Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank in Nigeria, Dr. Eke Sehibo, said the rebranding of HEI would lead to more investments in the insurance company.
According to him, one of the main reasons most companies did not make progress was because they refused to change and adopt modern innovations of growth.
Businesses need optimal thinking to make inroads into any sector or country, Sehibo added.
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