Trustco Mobile, a subsidiary of Namibia-based Trustco Group Holdings, will provide free life cover for mobile phone users when they purchase airtime.
It has set a target of signing up five million people on the continent in the next 10 months.
Trustco says the deal, which comes into effect tomorrow, will initially be exclusive to Cell One customers, in Namibia. It will cover their lives for a maximum of R100 000, for as long as they buy airtime monthly from the mobile company.
Quinton van Rooyen, group MD of the Trustco Group, says the system works through the cellular company's network and, as long as consumers keep buying airtime, they are insured. Reminders are sent out via SMS when customers need to recharge.
He says the concept was tested for a year before being launched, and uptake was good. Namibia has 1.4 million cellphone users, of which 95% are on prepaid packages.
The company will expand the offering beyond Namibia and is targeting five million users by financial year-end. Cell One has 250 000 prepaid customers, Van Rooyen says.
Growth ambitions
The Trustco Group was the first company to list on the newly-created Africa board of the JSE when it listed in February. The mobile division was launched just over a year ago.
Trustco says the insurance offering is expected to yield considerable growth and it wants to expand throughout the continent. Its first major deal has been signed with Powercom, trading as Cell One in Namibia.
Trustco, which has more than 700 staff, focuses on micro finance and micro insurance through its subsidiary units. It aims to grow its market capitalisation to R5 billion, from R550 million, in five years.
The Namibian company says the deal follows a successful pilot phase, which was entered into with Powercom - a subsidiary of Telecel Globe - last April.
The deal will see Trustco Mobile expand its offer of free life cover from the limited pilot phase to cover all purchasers of Cell One airtime. Life cover will be extended on application, as long as there is a minimum airtime purchase every month.
While the deal is in force for a year, it also allows Trustco to extend the offering to other subsidiaries of Telecel.
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