LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Financial services group Fidelity Life Assurance has appointed Zvenyika Zvenyika as the acting chief executive officer with effect from October 1 2021.
The appointment of Zvenyika follows the resignation of Rueben Java after four years at the helm.
In a statement, Fidelity Life company secretary Chipo Matongo said Zvenyika will be appointed on acting capacity with the group finalising the recruitment of the substantive CEO.
“The chairman and the board of Fidelity Life Assurance are pleased to announce the appointment of Zvenyika Zvenyika to the post of Acting Chief Executive Officer with effect from October 1 2021.
“Zvenyika is currently the Chief Finance Officer of Fidelity Life Assurance of Zimbabwe Limited having joined the Group in February 2020 and sits on various subsidiary boards,” Matongo said.
The company said Zvenyika has made valuable contributions to the group since he joined, supporting decision-making, contributing to the delivery of a solid financial performance in the financial years 2020 and 2021.
Zvenyika has worked in various capacities at senior management level within Zimbabwe and in the SADC region.
Matongo said the new CEO is an accomplished, innovative accounting and finance professional with more than 15 years of successive experience in designing future fit financial and business strategies to achieve maximum shareholder value.
A Chartered Accountant, Zvenyika holds an Honours Bachelor of Accountancy degree from the University of Zimbabwe and an Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science degree from the University of South Africa.
He has participated in various leadership and executive development programmes run by leading global institutions.
Fidelity recorded a 16% slump in revenue to ZWL$326.1m in the first quarter to March 31, 2021 from ZWL$387.5m reported in the prior comparative period due to the decrease in investment income.
“The decrease in total revenue was as a result of a 66% decrease in investment income, itself mainly driven by investment property fair value gains. Property fair value gains are computed in relation to movement in the exchange rate, which grew by less than the inflation rate,” Fidelity Life Assurance company secretary Chipo Matongo said in a trading update for the quarter.
Total expenses for Fidelity, which operates three insurance businesses, Fidelity Life Assurance, Vanguard Life Assurance and Fidelity Funeral Services, and other subsidiaries, that provides micro-lending, medical aid, asset management and actuarial services, grew by 12% to ZWL$187.1m from ZWL$167.8m recorded during the same period last year.
Matongo said expenses were largely driven by the changes in insurance liabilities which constituted 47% of the total expenses in the reviewed period compared to 45% in the same period the prior year.
The group posted a profit before tax of ZWL$139m for the period ended March 31, a decrease of 37% as compared to ZWL$219.7m posted in the same period last year.]
The group said the improved rollout out of vaccination programmes has raised hopes of a turnaround in the pandemic later this year, though new waves and variants of the virus pose concerns for the outlook. Expectations of a bumper maize harvest have raised hopes of an agriculture-led economic recovery in 2021, Fidelity said.
Given the low economic base resulting from two consecutive years of economic decline, marginal economic growth is expected in 2021, the company’s strategic focus remains on value preservation for the key stakeholders which include policyholders, clients, shareholders and employees, it said.
