Prove your worthy to breach the gender gap- Chinyuku
Harare: Recently, Women in Insurance Zimbabwe (WIZ) appointed clementine Chinyuku as its first vice president. Chinyuku who is the current head of Health and Life at Emeritus Reinsurance prides herself with over 20 years of experience, in the industry. But she gives the credit to Emeritus Reinsurance Which she says it has made her who she is today.
Emeritus was born out of Zimre Holdings Limited (ZHL) in 1983, formerly Baobab, through an Act of Parliament, the Zimbabwe Reinsurance Corporation Act [Chapter 24:17], and started transacting reinsurance business in 1984. Chinyuku is one of the many leading and influential insurance experts in the industry groomed by Emeritus Reinsurance, Managing Director, Leo Huvaya.
This week we trace Chinyuku’s journey in which she shares insights:
: What did you study, and how did that enable you to work at Emeritus?
CC: My initial studies after high school had nothing to do with insurance. I did science subjects for my A-level and then studied law from sheer interest. However, once I joined the insurance industry, I knew it was important to pursue my studies and insurance qualifications, starting with the Certificate of Proficiency (COP) in Life. I gradually attained my diploma in insurance, a Masters’s in Risk and Insurance, and my fellowship with the Insurance Institute of South Africa. In addition to that, I also have a diploma in administration as well as a degree in marketing. I certainly did not have a clear pathway into insurance, and I recall that when I started my career, the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) was the first institution to offer insurance studies in Zimbabwe, and the Insurance and Risk degree was quite new. It is exciting to note that great strides have been made since then, and various insurance qualifications from many institutions are now being offered, ensuring that highly qualified professionals are available in the industry. I believe all my qualifications have shaped me into a well-rounded practitioner, with the law providing the legal aspects and principles of insurance, which is foundational, the marketing degree pivoting the role I play in client relationship management, and the specific insurance qualifications giving me the theoretical and practical experience for day-to-day insurance operations. Everything I have done to date complements and supports my work.
: How did you start until you became the Head of Life and Health at Emeritus Reinsurance?
CC: I joined the insurance industry as a trainee life underwriter at Zimnat Life in 1996 and worked there for seven years. When I eventually left, I was the senior life underwriter. I was privileged to be sent for training for six months in South Africa and attached to well-renowned international reinsurers, where I received most of the initial training and grounding. My stay at Zimnat Life exposed me to life assurance operations, from sales to claims and insurance administration. I had an excellent opportunity to work with the marketing and business development team, and this is where my exposure to training started. After leaving Zimnat Life, I joined the then Zimre Reinsurance, which was later rebranded to Baobab Reinsurance and is now Emeritus Reinsurance. My position then was Assistant Life Administrator, and I transitioned to being the Administration Manager, Head of Admin, and now the current role I am, Head of Life and Health.
: What inspired you to get into insurance?
CC: My story is hilarious when I reflect on how I got into insurance. I can certainly say it was never intentional and possibly out of curiosity. I was going through the paper one day, and during those days, job adverts used to be placed in the classifieds. I came across an advert calling for applications for “trainee life underwriters.” It sounded important to me. Remember, I had not been exposed to insurance in any way apart from knowing my parents had insurance policies and the famous adverts on the radio by Paul Mukondo (may his soul rest in eternal peace). I still proceeded and applied, and to my surprise, I was called for an interview. I must say I was very excited by the prospect of being short-listed. In my mind, I intended to use the opportunity to learn what happens in a job interview and prepare myself for future opportunities. It never crossed my mind that I would get the job. I recall in the interview; I was asked what I thought the job entailed and what I understood about life assurance. Then there was minimal access to the internet, so I did not have the privilege of consulting dear ‘Google,’ and it had not even crossed my mind to try and find anyone who knew about life assurance. So, in the interview, I was completely honest and professed my total ignorance but indicated how eager I was to learn. To my surprise, I got the job, and here I am now, more than 20 years later, with an intense passion for insurance. I never looked back once I got the chance, and insurance is precisely where I want to be.
: What does your current role involve, and what advice can you offer to those aspiring to be in the same position as you are now?
CC: I am currently the Head- Life and Health at Emeritus Re, which involves being in charge of the reassurance operations. Emeritus Re is the Reinsurance division of ZHL, and the Life and Health division focuses on providing risk management and reinsurance solutions for the Life Assurance industry. This extends to medical (health products) and funeral assurers. Ideally, we deal with the first-line insurers who are the ones responsible for interfacing with the individual insuring the public, so we may not be known to many. However, my role spans from strategy implementation, encompassing business operations including underwriting, claims and administration, and marketing. An essential aspect of my role is staff and client training, which I am incredibly passionate about. From the very first time I set foot in an insurance company, I understood the value of client training because my immediate exposure was being trained by reinsurers, and now that I am in the shoes of a reinsurer, I spearhead training was a passion. I am fortunate to be in an organization that shares my values. I have been able to live this passion and train hundreds of insurance professionals in different countries, including our staff. This passion for sharing knowledge and experiences with others has opened doors for me to train professionals through the Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe and the Life Offices Association of Zimbabwe, with the latter running training programs for life Underwriters in Zimbabwe that I have spearheaded.
: As a woman, what are the challenges you have faced, if any, in the insurance industry?
CC: I know the default would be to say that the insurance industry was, for many years, a male-dominated arena, and it was never easy to have a voice or be taken seriously. As a young female looking to make it, I realized early that I had to put in the extra work and back that up with the knowledge and necessary skills. Doing this was not a challenge, though, because I loved my job, and I enjoyed what I was doing. I was also extremely fortunate to have a nucleus environment that allowed me to thrive, as my mentors were highly supportive. Therefore, in my formative years and the lower levels of the hierarchy, I did not fully realize the challenges. I possibly only started to experience the realities of dominance as I moved up the corporate ladder and into a managerial role. You must prove you are worthy to be taken seriously and be able to have the courage to speak up. I was inspired by women like Dr Grace Muradzikwa and Dr Ruth Ncube, and even though it was at a distance, it gave me the confidence to believe I could also have a chance and make it. Another challenge is balancing work, family, and social life, especially as you transition to carrying various social roles. This may not necessarily be peculiar to the insurance industry. I mentioned that I worked to attain the necessary insurance qualifications, all through going to work and being a mother. The demands on your time, energy, and resources may become taxing, but what is important is not giving up.
: Emeritus Re being a regional player, what have you learned/insights from dealing with the diverse client database?
CC: Emeritus Re has physical offices in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, apart from Zimbabwe, but we write business from many countries. This has allowed me to interact with clients from all over the world. Diversity allows for knowledge exchange and best practices from interactions, a broad spectrum of the various country-specific intricacies of doing business, and exposure to cultural and product diversity. One of our critical thrusts as Emeritus Re is industry skills development, and training our clients is a top priority. I gained immense knowledge of diverse market trends through these training platforms. I have been exposed to visiting and providing training not only in the countries where we are physically present but also in Ethiopia, Mauritius, and Uganda. I have also traveled to France, Germany, and Norway to attend training. The key lesson is that while insurance tends to be a generic product, providing risk and reassurance solutions is not generic. Before even providing any risk or reassurance solution, it is crucial to understand the country’s context and adapt the solutions to suit a specific market environment. This requires firstly an understanding of the environment, expectations of the customer, and a willingness to be flexible to meet these. It is never a one-size-fits-all. As reinsurers, we must, therefore, be responsive to client-specific needs.
: You have been recently appointed as the Women in Insurance in Zimbabwe’s 1st Vice President; what does this mean for you, your organization, and the insurance industry?
CC: It is a great honor to be given the opportunity to serve as the 1st Vice president of WIZ for the next two years, and I am incredibly humbled by the vote of confidence from the insurance industry. WIZ is an organization that complements and works with various industry bodies. The focus, however, is grooming and mentoring young female insurance professionals to be able to deliver in their various roles. We aim to support and uplift young female insurance professionals to represent the profession properly. Our role is to groom and mentor young professionals into leaders of repute in their various spheres. I am a testament to such grooming and mentoring, having had the opportunity to sit, interact, and be groomed by a pool of esteemed and prolific female icons within the insurance industry as a member of WIZ. WIZ gives this same opportunity to each member to learn from the various mentors through a robust mentorship programme. My appointment hence allows me to afford young professionals the same platform I was given for grooming and mentorship, and I desire that I will be able to influence the lives and careers of many WIZ members positively. I am a testimony that it is possible to make it despite how you may have started. The appointment is also a seal of approval and a stamp of confidence in Emeritus Re as a market leader. They say, “If you want to know the parents’ values, you just look at the child.” The excellence I carry is enshrined in the Emeritus Re values, and WIZ has come in to compliment and polish that. I am, therefore, extremely excited to be embarking on this journey that complements my training passion and gives me another platform to touch and transform the lives of young professionals.
: As we get into the women’s month, what does this celebration mean to you? What advice would you like to share with other women?
CC: Celebrating Women’s Month is a time to recognize and appreciate women’s contributions, achievements, and challenges throughout history and in contemporary society. Women’s Month represents a chance to acknowledge the accomplishments of women in various fields, including insurance, science, arts, education, business, and more. It is an opportunity to support and amplify women’s voices and to foster an inclusive and equitable society where everyone has equal opportunities. This year’s theme, “Invest in women: accelerate progress,” resonates with me personally and professionally. As I have highlighted, training is a passion I hold strongly, and I feel it is essential to invest in women through training; indeed, such training accelerates progress. My advice to the women who have travelled the road is that we must be available to share those experiences and guide those following in our footsteps or desire to do so. We know the hazards and good roads; let us share the appropriate road signs and give a roadmap. It becomes easier when the way is illuminated and marked. Let us encourage our young professionals to do better and surpass us. Teachers have always inspired me, possibly because my mother was a teacher. They selflessly groom and teach doctors, accountants, engineers, nurses, police officers, insurers, etc and look at their protegees with pride. As insurers, we should adopt that selfless attitude and impart the practical knowledge and experiences we have to complement what they receive from our esteemed institutions of higher learning. My advice to young professionals, not only in insurance, is that it is crucial to keep learning in this dynamic environment. Let us intentionally learn new and relevant skills and deliberately try to improve ourselves. I did not start with insurance qualifications, but I realized the gap and did something about it. I have done many short courses and recently graduated from an Executive Development Program, all in an effort to keep learning. With digitalization and technological advancements, we now have many opportunities to access online courses, and we should take advantage of them. In short, be intentional about putting in the time and hard work it needs. I have also noted a tendency to move from job to job. While I understand the driving force and that taking up new challenges and opportunities is good, it is also essential to have some stability and growth that can be seen in your progress. Allow yourself the time to be groomed and mentored in the right environment. (ZIM IND)
Chinyuku is the Head –Reassurance and Underwriting at Emeritus Re Life and Health.She has over20 years’ experience in Life Assurance and Reassurance and is a seasoned trainer in technical insurance, motivated and driven by a strong desire is to see young insurance professionals rising through mentoring and training. She can be contacted on : [email protected]
