(Business in Cameroon) - After being crowned the undisputed champion of the Moroccan market by using the vast network of its parent company, Attijariwafa Bank, the Moroccan insurance company plans to conquer Africa. The company has just announced that it is planning to open new branches in Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and Congo.

The insurer, which previously targeted acquisitions in these countries, has therefore changed its game plan. This 180º turn is due to the success of Wafa Assurance’s new set-up in Tunisia. “For our projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, we won’t be doing acquisitions as initially planned. We will be repeating the approach used in Tunisia, that is to say, we’ll be creating new entities,” announced Mohamed Ramses Arroub, CEO of Wafa Assurance during a presentation of the company’s 2013 results indicating that his company is focusing on Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and Congo.

In the space of seven months, the Tunisian subsidiary of Wafa Assurance, specialised in life insurance, made 89.6 million Moroccan dirhams in sales and was able to nab 7% of the market by using Attijari-Bank Tunisie’s network, Attijariwafa Bank’s local subsidiary.

In Cote d’Ivoire, where Wafa Assurance had abandoned its intention to acquire SAFA due to a fire that had caused significant material damages to the company’s offices, the Moroccan company is planning to use the distribution network of Attijariwafa Bank’s local subsidiary, Société ivoirienne de Banque (SIB). The same strategy is to be used in Congo, Cameroon and Gabon where Attijariwafa Bank has subsidiaries with solid nationwide coverage.