Continental Reinsurance
“Can a 40-year-old pan-African reinsurer scale continental risk capacity by relocating capital to Botswana and going public?”
Founded1985
HQGaborone, Botswana (Group HQ); Lagos, Nigeria (Plc)
IndustryFintech / Insurtech
The story
Continental Reinsurance is a 40-year-old pan-African composite reinsurer, not an embedded-finance operator. Founded 1985 in Nigeria, it has grown into one of Africa's largest private reinsurers with offices across 11 countries. In 2026 the group relocated its holding company to Botswana and opened a public offering on the Botswana Stock Exchange, marking a capital-markets pivot rather than a technology or embedded-finance one.
Product timeline
1985
Founded as a private reinsurance company in Nigeria.· founding
2023
Implemented IFRS 17 for financial reporting.· compliance
2025
40th anniversary; 10th CEO Summit held in Cape Town.· milestone
2026
Continental Re Holdings relocates HQ to Botswana; opens public offer on the Botswana Stock Exchange (first reinsurer IPO on BSE).· ipo
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Continental Reinsurance
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Continental Reinsurance’s embedded-finance stack
Insurance
Continental Reinsurance Plc (in-house)
Accounting gap: none