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growth for our business, while at the same
time helping to solve the socio-economic
challenges we face as a continent,” says Iain
Williamson, Interim CEO.Old Mutual strengthened its focus on Africa
during mid-2018, a move that signalled
a renewed confidence in the growth
opportunities the continent holds. To unlock
its full potential, the business is committed to
working more closely with key stakeholders
to better deliver shared value and growth.The Group has already committed US $ 8,3
billion towards creating inclusive and
sustainable economies on behalf of its
clients and is working with its stakeholders
across the continent to achieve SMART
objectives. Partnerships that are enhancing
the lives of not only its customers, but also
the communities across the 14 countries in
which it operates, include:US $ 92,3 million committed to providing
access to quality education in conjunction
with National, Provincial and Local
Departments of Education. The Group’s
Education Flagship Project in South Africa,
for example, forged strong partnerships
with local education authorities across four
provinces over seven years to improve maths
and science skills among matric learners.
It also ran an extensive school leadership
programme for teachers and principals
which has further helped to improve
performance in these pilot schools.US $ 845 million committed to affordable
housing projects across Africa, in conjunction
with a range of partners, including
government. A core aspect of this approach
is gap housing, which seeks to address thechallenge of those considered “too rich” to
receive free-government subsidised houses,
yet “too poor” to fall within the normal
mortgage lending stream with financial
institutions.US $ 2,4 billion has been committed to
clean energy projects across Africa, enough
to sustainably power more than 800 000
homes.US $ 35 million committed to enterprise and
supplier development projects that support
small, medium, youth, women and black-
owned business. Working in conjunction with
key stakeholders in both government and
business, the core focus is to create access
to funding, markets, as well as the technical
support necessary for these businesses to
succeed.Despite persistent challenges, alignment
between stakeholders around common
goals makes it significantly easier to achieve
progress.“We are as invested in driving change as all our
partners are. We’re thinking about tomorrow
by acting today and our stakeholders play an
integral part in this journey. We are inspired
by the African proverb that says: If you want
to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go
together,” concludes Iain.Over the next decade, the Old Mutual Group
will be demonstrating its strengthened
resolve to activate actual outcomes to ensure
our commitments bear fruit. Working with
stakeholders to achieve this remains a priority!