An emotional homecoming

The week before we meet in Abidjan, Delphine returned to her home country of Burkina Faso to celebrate the rebranding of the Sanlam businesses to SanlamAllianz. For Delphine, this was an emotional moment: “This is where I was born. This is where I was raised, where my family lives and my ancestors came from. Going back there, especially in the middle of a security crisis and receiving such a warm welcome was touching. They were proud that despite leaving and travelling the world, I’d come back, never forgetting my roots.”

Delphine spent the first twelve years of her life in Burkina Faso, born and raised in a village called Orodara, part of the Mandinka tribe, where the name Traor. comes from. She notes that as the first-born child of her mother, her name is prefixed with the word "Ye”, a traditional West-African name meaning “firstborn daughter”.

It’s clear from the beginning of our conversation, that her parents, and particularly her father Jules Dekrin Traor., have had an enormous impact on Delphine’s life. She credits him with instilling the values that she lives by to this day: “One of the most important things Dad taught us was the value of humility – that no matter where people are from or their role in society, nobody is better than you, and you are not better than anyone. From the President to the Pope, no one should intimidate you, but equally, you should not intimidate others. Once you remove people’s titles, you’re left with a human being, and we always need to remember who that person is.”

Throughout our conversation, Delphine returns to this philosophy, and it becomes apparent that much of her success in business and relationships is thanks to this simple notion.

A father’s impact

Delphine’s father was the first of eight siblings to attend school, but as the son of a humble farmer, he had to work hard to earn enough money to buy the paper and pens he needed for his education. This hard work paid off, and with the support of his family, he completed high school, eventually earning a scholarship to study in Canada. This, says Delphine, was the turning point that laid the foundations for Delphine’s own path through life, and that of her children.

“He became an agricultural engineer for the government, and then, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. This job allowed him to travel all around Africa, working on irrigation projects, and gave him the money to send me and my siblings to school.”

It was the opportunity to travel that Delphine believes led her father to develop a more liberal mindset that saw beyond the traditional cultural gender roles that existed at the time. Women were expected to be homemakers, financially dependent on the men in their lives. Both of her parents staunchly challenged these norms. When questioned why he would “invest” money in sending his eldest daughter to school in the US, Delphine’s father was adamant that he wanted to give all four of his children equal education opportunities. Her mother agreed: “Mum told me you should never be in a position where you have to put your hand out to a man to buy your personal needs. For instance, during your period, you shouldn’t have to ask a man for money for basic supplies. She taught me the importance of being financially independent.”

These views may have been contentious to some of her parents’ peers, but they were the key to opening up a world of possibilities for Delphine.

An ocean away

Like so many people in our industry, insurance wasn’t a career Delphine initially set her sights on. She originally wanted to be an interpreter: “I like people and language. I was interested in global politics and inspired by my dad’s travels and opportunities to meet people from different countries and cultures. Also, Burkina Faso is so far away; I wanted to feel more connected to the world. I thought this job would give me those wonderful opportunities.”

Fortunately for the world of insurance, this wasn’t meant to be. With French as her native language, it would have been relatively easy for Delphine to attend the school in Belgium, where she initially wanted to train as an interpreter. Many peers were being sent to Francophone countries to study, but Delphine’s father felt this might limit her in the long term. He suggested that either England or the United States would help to open her eyes and mind – and pave the way for greater opportunities.

So, at the age of 18, having never left Africa, nor spoken any English, Delphine and her father made their way to the US to attend the University of Pittsburgh to study Business and Accounting. This would become one of the most difficult moments of her life.

“My dad stayed with me for a week, but as soon as he left, I realised I was completely alone, in a huge country. I didn’t speak the language, and I didn’t know anyone. For the first two weeks, I didn’t hear from home, and it was far too expensive to call. It was probably one of the toughest times of my life. When I eventually did get to speak to them, I was in tears.” We laugh as Delphine recalls how she asked her parents if she was being abandoned, that teenage angst all too familiar.

Delphine’s nineteen-year-old daughter has been more fortunate – and hasn’t had the same difficult experience of starting school in a country far from home, the generational difference between the two clear as she explains:

“If you look at my daughter today, she did her own application to study Political Science and International Relations in Canada. She speaks English... probably better than me! All I essentially had to do was follow her for moral support”.

But this smooth transition has to be a credit to Delphine, who has worked hard to give her two children a broad cultural upbringing, exposure to different countries, and an excellent grounding in the English language.

What is an underwriter?

Delphine flourished at University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Accounting, after which she had to decide whether to stay on in the US, or return to Africa.

“I was trying to decide between two opportunities, one here in Abidjan and the other in Indianapolis with Ohio Casualty. Talking to my Mom, she advised me to stay in the US a little longer to get more experience before coming back home”.

Having decided to interview for the role of Liability Underwriter at Ohio Casualty, Delphine had one important question… what is an underwriter? She laughs: “I just didn’t know what it meant! Like so many young people, I had a very limited understanding of what insurance was and how it worked. I thought of it as a guy going from door to door, selling life insurance. Actually, I think this is something we’re still very poor at as an industry, educating the next generation on the breadth and depth of roles that exist across our industry.”

This lack of knowledge didn’t hold Delphine back. Having accepted the role with Ohio Casualty, she embarked on an intensive year of training to understand exactly what an underwriter is and how they work. Now fully established, having visited and worked in other cities across the US, such as Ohio, Chicago and Denver, Delphine spent the next ten years at Ohio Casualty, the company providing the backdrop to some of the most significant moments of her early life. It was whilst she was working for the company that she married and had her first child, a son. Never one to shy away from a challenge, she also began studying for her MBA, she recalled: “I started doing my MBA while my son was a baby. There I was, juggling work, my Master’s and a baby that never slept! It was hectic!”

Canada-bound: the start of a new chapter

Just after completing her Master’s, Delphine was ready for something new, and she and her husband decided to move to Toronto.

The skills Delphine had built over her ten years at Ohio Casualty stood her in excellent stead to quickly find a new role in Canada, she explained: “Canadian insurance businesses are keen on people who have honed their underwriting skills in the US because of the complexity of the US legal environment. They told me that once you’ve been able to manage it [the job] in the US, you can do it here.”

Hence, shortly after arriving in Canada, Delphine began working as a Liability Underwriter at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

The move was a strategic one: “I agreed to the role as it was the only company present in Africa. I knew in my heart that I wanted to return to my home continent when the time was right, and I knew with Allianz, that might become a reality.”

In her first few months at Allianz, Delphine encountered a challenge familiar to many young women in business: navigating a pregnancy and maternity leave early on in a role.

“I remember them showing me around in those first few weeks. We passed an empty office and I asked who it belonged to. My soon-to-be-boss told me that it was someone on maternity leave, but she warned half-joking, ‘Don’t even think about it!’ Shortly after, I discovered that I was indeed pregnant with my daughter… This can be a difficult time for a woman. Telling your new employer that you will soon have to go on maternity leave can be daunting, and I couldn’t find the right words. So, I put it off until I couldn’t hide it any longer, even then, I thought I might be fired!”

Luckily, Allianz, having recognised Delphine’s potential, didn’t take such extreme measures. Instead, they negotiated a slightly shorter maternity leave than the standard year, and Delphine spent this valuable time with her new baby.

Over the next few years, she advanced through the company, eventually being promoted to the Head of Market Management, a highly strategic role where she was responsible for identifying potential markets and supporting business development across Canada.

The inescapable call of Africa

Throughout our conversation, it is clear that Delphine takes enormous pride in her African heritage, and it goes beyond words. Over the years, she has taken a number of Board and Non-Executive Director roles across the insurance, farming and development sectors in Africa, including: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re), and African Risk Capacity (ARC). Delphine is adamant that she wants to use her platform to drive economic growth and development across her continent and is committed to growing the talent pool for the African insurance market.

But, before securing these important roles, Delphine had to first find a way to return to Africa, and opportunity came in the form of our mutual friend, Andreas Berger, who was then Chief Regions and Markets Operator for AGCS.

Delphine recalls: “I first met Andreas at a RIMS event in Philadelphia, PA. At the time, he had just joined the board of Allianz, with a remit covering Africa, amongst other territories. We struck up a conversation and then kept in touch in subsequent months.”

A few months later, Andreas would come to Canada with an exciting opportunity for Delphine: the chance to become CEO of Allianz in South Africa.

“He walked into my office and asked about my career aspirations. I told him that it would be good to one day run the Canadian operation. He smiled and said, ‘yes, that’s good, but what if you ran the South African operation instead…?’”

Delphine later found out that AGCS had begun plans to invest more in African and other emerging markets; and was looking for strategies to achieve this: “The board asked if I thought it could be done. I told them yes, presented my case, and they said, ‘okay, let’s do it’, and that’s how I found myself heading to South Africa as the CEO of the regional business.”

Delphine tells me, candidly, that the move back to Africa was not initially a smooth one, and she found herself having to make a difficult choice between her family and career.

“My husband at the time did not want me to move to South Africa, and he certainly didn’t want to take the children. So, I had a problem. There was this amazing job opportunity that would take me back to my continent and closer to my home, but in doing so, I would destroy my marriage and potentially lose my children. How do you begin to make that type of decision?”

As she had in previous times of turmoil, Delphine turned to her father, calling him in the middle of the night for advice. In words I now recognise as typical for Delphine’s supportive, yet pragmatic father, he advised her: “Do you like this job? Do you want to do it? If so, what man is going to tell you not to do it?” He continued, “I did not make sacrifices for you to back down, if I wanted you to be a traditional docile African woman, I wouldn’t have sent you to the US!”

Mind made up, Delphine phoned her husband to tell him she was moving back to Africa with the children. She falls quiet for a moment as she reflects on what was clearly a difficult moment for her and her young family.

Setting milestones

Taking on the role of CEO of Allianz South Africa was a historic moment; the first African woman to hold the highest regional position within the Allianz group. The regulator told her at the time that she was the only woman running a financial services company in South Africa. We pause to reflect that as recently as 2012, only one woman was running a financial services firm in the whole country.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Delphine’s achievements. She has achieved many firsts since returning to Africa in 2012: she was the first African woman on the Allianz Group Executive Committee, and the first black woman to be named President of the Insurance Institute of South Africa.

I wonder what Delphine thinks of these accolades, surely a great sense of pride? She hesitates, explaining: “My feelings are mixed. On one hand, I have to question why these ‘firsts’ took so long, but on the other, I’m very proud to be in a position to show young black women what’s possible. I also feel an enormous pressure, pressure I put on myself, to make sure that though I may be the first in these positions, I cannot be the last.”

Thankfully, things have changed since 2012. Slowly but surely, we’re seeing more women stepping into these leadership positions, and for Delphine, that’s important.

“I’m seeing more women being appointed as insurance CEOs across Pan-African countries, and it’s very encouraging. But we can never settle; we need to continue to open doors for other women.”

Battling cultural and gender stereotypes

In many traditional African cultures, there is still a belief that women should be submissive to men, but in her role, Delphine is often the most senior person in the room. So, how does she manage to balance these deeply ingrained cultural expectations with the strong, independent person she has become?

“It’s a battle I have regularly. I’m an African woman first; I raise my kids and I look after my husband a certain way, as that is how I was taught. But then I go out into the world of business, where I have to work with older male figures, who society taught me to be deferential to, but I cannot treat them the same way I would if they were in my home.”

She then tells me something that will resonate with many women, that she often finds herself self-censoring in meetings, conscious of having too much of a voice.

“My role requires me to be assertive, but my cultural heritage emphasises deference and humility. It can be difficult for me to challenge others, particularly older men, as it’s just not how women are supposed to speak to them. Because of this, there have been occasions where I’ve stayed quiet in meetings, and then regretted it after.”

Encouragingly, Delphine has noticed a change in the role of African women, and she’s pleased to see more women finding their voice. Speaking up is something she believes is vitally important for young women. She advises:

“In any meeting, especially when there are senior people present, always have a good question that you need to ask, and don’t be afraid to ask it because once you raise your voice and make a strong point, they will remember you next time.”

A new Pan-African venture

Further accolades poured in for Delphine after she led the successful merger of Allianz Africa and Sanlam, the largest non-banking financial services provider in Africa, in September 2023. This move positioned the new SanlamAllianz business as a dominant force in Africa’s insurance and financial sector, and Delphine was promoted to CEO of SanlamAllianz General Insurance.

Explaining how this monumental responsibility came about, she recalled: “Our Allianz Board member who also had Africa under his responsibilities, Christopher Townsend, phoned me one day and said, ‘Okay, on Monday we’re changing pace, I need you to clear your calendar for the next… forever…” By which he meant until the transaction was closed, and at that time the team was unsure how long this would take.

Underpinning African market growth through talent and innovation

As the CEO of SanlamAllianz General Insurance Business, Delphine is in charge of fifteen regional offices across Africa, and is keen to ensure she uses the platform to bolster the talent pipeline in Africa. She’s adamant that the CEOs of each regional hub are African, after all, they know and understand their local economies and markets better than anyone.

“Our continent needs the talent, which is part of the reason I was so determined to return to Africa after building my career and experience in the US and Canada. I want to make sure that all of our CEOs across Africa are from Africa. At first, it was difficult to find the right people. We do have a talent shortage, and finding qualified candidates can be challenging. That’s why it’s so important to invest in our teams and educate younger people about the benefits of insurance as a career, so they join us after they leave school.”

Understanding local markets is key for Delphine; she has spent valuable time visiting other regions and learning about the nuances of the insurance markets in those diverse places. Just a few weeks before we meet, Delphine had traveled to Angola, where she was set a special task, she explains:

“The CEO asked me, ‘Are you up for selling some policies on the street?’ Of course, I said yes! You can’t ask your team to do something you’re not willing to do yourself, so I joined the team on the streets of Luanda.”

This experience was eye-opening for Delphine, with many interactions highlighting why insurance penetration is so low across many parts of Africa: “One guy signed up for car insurance right then and there, explaining that he hadn’t done it before because he thought he’d have to come into an office and sit for hours filling out applications. But our team on the street had a mobile app, and we sorted it out then and there, sending him his policy via email. This highlights the importance of meeting our customers where they are, and selling insurance in the way that resonates with them.”

The development of the African market is something close to Delphine’s heart, and she sees real opportunities for growth, particularly in agriculture, given that 70% of Africa’s population works in farming. However, she believes the industry as a whole is slow to innovate to meet the needs of diverse customers: “African markets are growing, but not fast enough. Many markets continue to sell the same outdated products, rather than innovate to meet the real needs of African people”.

She highlights the example of healthcare insurance, saying: “If someone needs to have an operation, they are often given a list of things they need to bring to the hospital with them, that can even include medical supplies like syringes. If they can’t afford these things, they often have to send their families out to the pharmacist to obtain them. Though many public hospitals aren’t well equipped, people can’t afford to go to private hospitals, and where does that leave them? This is where we need to adapt. How can we convince people to put as little as 50c a day away to cover them for the day when they need it? We’re not talking massively comprehensive product, many people just need the very basics.”

The culmination of Delphine’s commitment to growth in Africa came when she was invited to participate in a public dialogue with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Berlin Global Dialogue event in 2023. During this session, Delphine and Herr Scholz discussed Africa’s role in global energy transition and climate adaptation, and she highlighted the issues of food insecurity, climate vulnerability, and the importance of African leadership in shaping global solutions.

This was a significant moment for Delphine. The event was live and televised, and as well as business, she had to navigate the politics of the conversation. The pressure must have been enormous. Delphine agrees, recalling: “I wasn’t just representing Allianz, I was representing Africa. This meeting had to go well, I knew I couldn’t screw it up. I’ve been taught not to let anyone intimidate me, but let me tell you, in the five minutes before the meeting began, I was intimidated!”

The dialogue went well, and by the end of it, Delphine was happily making jokes with the Chancellor of Germany.