He rose to the current position of Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Africa Re in July 2011 after a transitional period of 2 years during which he served successively as Deputy Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director / Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Africa Re in 2009, he served on the Group Board of Africa Re between 2003 and 2005 while working in the primary insurance sector.
His professional career started in 1991 in the insurance industry where he served practically in all the accounting, reinsurance, technical and marketing departments with the leading insurance companies in Burundi (SOCABU s.m.) and Rwanda (SONARWA s.a.), before becoming the Deputy Managing Director in 2001 and, early in 2008, the Chief Executive Officer of SONARWA s.a.
Dr KAREKEZI holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (University of Burundi), Postgraduate diplomas in Business Administration (Edinburgh Business School and University of Liverpool, both in UK), a Master’s degree in Management (University of Burundi), an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration (Commonwealth University, UK) and a Doctorate in Business Administration (Paris School of Business, France & Galilee International Management Institute, Israel).
He speaks fluently English, French, Swahili and other African languages.
Since 1996, he has contributed significantly to the development of the insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa through his involvement and leadership in various national, regional and continental initiatives and organizations. He has equally participated actively, as speaker, in seminars, conferences, symposia and other fora across the world on issues of insurance development, insurance protection gap, risk management, insurtech and leadership.
He has served as Chairman and member of governing bodies of various financial institutions and foundations in Africa. He is currently the Chairman of Africa Re (South Africa) Limited, Chairman of Africa Retakaful Company (Egypt), Member of the Executive Council of the International Insurance Society (IIS), and a Member of the Executive Committee of the African Insurance Organization (AIO) where he chairs the Finance Committee.
