By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Tangerine has launched offerings in Nigeria to compete with other fintechs in a harsh but lucrative terrain where the N2 billion fintech capital base required by the Central Bank (CBN) does not seem to deter buoyant operators.
The latest fintech to foray into Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy has made significant acquisitions across several financial services sectors and is gunning for more acquisitions and mergers.
The entities Tangerine Nigeria launched include Tangerine Life, Tangerine General, Tangerine Pensions, and Tangerine Money. It plans to enter eight other markets in Africa, per Nairametrics.
The products were unveiled in Lagos by Tangerine Nigeria Head of Pensions Dapo Akinsanya, Head of Life Insurance Livingstone Magorimbo, and Commercial Head Ibitude Balogun.
The launch comes as competition in the Nigerian fintech space has increased, more so in Pension Funds, with the RSA window open for customers to transfer from one PFA to another.
Tangerine vision
“In under two years, we have been able to successfully acquire and rebrand several businesses, firmly establishing Tangerine,” Akinsanya said.
“We have also made significant strides in repositioning our businesses in readiness for growth by assembling a strong, agile, and experienced team that aligns with our strategic thinking.
“In the area of recaptisation, the Nigerian insurance industry is currently going through a suspended recapitalisation process, which has sought to increase the minimum statutory capital levels for life insurance and general insurance businesses from N2 billion to N8 billion and N3 billion to N10 billion, respectively.”
Magorimbo announced plans to establish Tangerine as the number one financial solutions provider of choice in Africa by driving efficiency, value addition, and growth.
“Our intention over the next three to four years is to build strong businesses that are profitable and have a fair share of the larger market, in all of the segments we participate in,” he said, per Nairametrics.
“We aim to do this by ensuring that the assets acquired in Nigeria are efficient and all the merger synergies are fully realised.”
On growth and expansion, Magorimbo said: “We see our future growth coming from the retail segment where we have made significant investments in understanding the market need, and in the technology and people required to support us going forward.
“We are also set to expand Tangerine’s presence beyond Nigeria. We plan to have a presence in at least eight African countries by 2024.”
Balogun spoke of the need for a variety of products.
His words: “We have merged deep consumer insights and cutting-edge technology to build a range of carefully tailored and relevant products that create value by broadening the financial potential of every individual, offering a unique blend of life insurance coverage, pensions, and wealth management to help individuals live without the worries of the future.
“At Tangerine, we believe that digital transformation done right can help build a seamless environment for interaction with customers. This is what guides our agile infrastructure.”
Tangerine says it is equipped with a robust, integrated, and scalable digital platform designed to meet the needs of a growing financial solutions ecosystem.
It claims to be driven by a high-performance and experienced management team and uniquely positioned for significant growth and impact.
Tangerine background
Tangerine was established in September 2019 following the acquisition of 100 per cent equity stake in Metropolitan Life Insurance Nigeria by Verod Capital Management (“Verod”), a leading private equity firm investing in growth companies across Anglophone West Africa.
This was immediately followed by a stream of strategic mergers & acquisitions, which has birthed four different entities.
Verod’s acquisition of ARM Life through Metropolitan Life to establish Tangerine Life Insurance and acquisition of Law Union and Rock both were rebranded as Tangerine General Insurance.
Assured MFB, a microfinance bank, was acquired by Tangerine Life to establish Tangerine Money; and acquisition of AXA Mansard Pension – a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) – gave Verod a minority stake in a significant PFA.
AXA Mansard has been rebranded as Tangerine Pensions and the process has begun to merge the two PFAs to produce a formidable competitor with wide geographic coverage.