Abstract
Africa Rising is a narrative which suggests that Africa’s economies are opening up to create a conducive environment for increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) activities in the most attractive countries, offering the highest opportunities. As a result, there has been growing interest in African markets and in the last decade alone. South African firms have played a leading role in FDI into other African countries. Like other promising sectors, such as energy and mining, the financial services sector is among key sectors that anticipate to be a key pull factor for investors into the continent’s economies. However, there is limited research on the internationalisation of insurance providers into other African markets. A qualitative study was undertaken to gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges experienced and the actions taken to overcome the challenges in internationalising a South African insurance broking firm. The study sought to gather data from views held by executive and senior managers as well as technical staff employed to manage and service multinational insurance accounts in Africa where The insurance broking firm in the study is operating. A sample of 20 participants employed by The insurance broking firm in the study was selected through a purposive non-probability sampling technique.These participants were well positioned to provide insights and perspectives in relation to the research questions of the study. Data was collected from each participant using semi-structured, face-toface interviews. Each interview was recorded and transcribed as permitted by the participants. Qualitative content analysis was subsequently used to analyse the data.The study identified that The insurance broking firm in the study is using networks as a platform to gain entry into markets but a major finding was that networks have over-exposed The insurance broking firm in the study to commercial risks, thereby having a negative impact on the optimum potential of its internationalisation strategy. Recommendations informing future strategy were highlighted and recommendations for future studies were proposed.
M.Com. (Business Management)