Breaking the ice: Meet Axis Assurances, Senegal

The UNIBA Partners’ network is constantly evolving; new Partners join, IDMs and Senior Contacts change. Although we have the chance to see each other face-to-face, most of the time we are meeting behind our laptops. And in this online environment you might have missed a new Partner joining or a contact changing, right?  Through this article-series we will make sure that that doesn’t happen anymore! In ‘Breaking the ice’ we will introduce new Partners, their specialisations, and, perhaps even more importantly, the people behind it.

In this month’s edition, we’re introducing our new Partner in Senegal, Axis Assurances, and their owner and CEO , Papa Sidy Aris.

For those who didn’t have the chance to meet you just yet, can you please introduce yourself and your company?

My name is  Papa Sidy Aris. I am an electromechanical engineer and I have been working in the insurance sector for over 30 years.

I worked at an insurance company for 21 years, advancing through roles such as Production Manager, Technical Manager, and Central Manager. Following more than two decades there, I founded Axis Assurances in 2012.

Axis Assurances is an insurance brokerage, consultancy, and audit firm operating in all sectors of insurance in Senegal, mainly non-life. Our portfolio mainly consists of property damage and civil liability, although we also do  sickness and motor. Most of our business comes from state-owned companies here in Senegal.

Why is “international” important to your company? In other words, why did you decide to join UNIBA Partners?

The term ‘international’ is important in that it can enable our firm to offer its clients a wider range of high-quality services, boosting our turnover as a result.

With the network, our firm can broaden its portfolio by capturing business from subsidiaries of companies established abroad. The exchange of insurance products between the different Partners could be beneficial to all.

Moving on, you already touched upon what you're hoping to get out of the network. What about the other way around? Where do you see Axis contributing to the network?

Over the next few years, my firm will be able to make contributions to UNIBA in the protection and prevention of industrial risks and offering and expanding the Partner’s knowledge of the West African market.

Now, moving back to more personal questions. Is there any particular book that has inspired you?

The book that has inspired me and continues to inspire me is Raymond Aron's ‘Peace and Wars Between Nations’.

I always like to quote Raymond Aron:  "peace is impossible, war is improbable."

On a final note, if you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

Having lunch with Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian businessman, would be a great experience. Not only would he inspire me with his business expertise, but it would also give me the chance to suggest a suitable insurance plan for his assets, which are located throughout West Africa.