Allianz SE CEO Oliver Bäte recently opened the 44thannual Insurance Conference in Sun City, South Africa with akeynote address on the conference theme, "Disrupt, Debate,Deliver."

In his speech, Bäte touched on the digitalizationoccurring throughout the insurance industry.

"In today's fast changing world, it's critical to innovatequickly and to change course rapidly if necessary. The insuranceindustry, like other customer service industries, is transformingbecause of the all-encompassing impact of digitalization on ourlives," said Bäte. "While traditional markets, such as Europe, arestruggling with their digital transformation process, Africa isdigital by nature. Mobile is the fastest growing sector andinnovation enabler on the continent with an expected 1.2 billionAfrican subscribers by 2018."

Related: Allianz seeks Asia business where growingmiddle-class driving demand for insurance

To transform Allianz into a truly customer-centric, 'digital bydefault' company, the Group established a Single Digital Agendawhich plans to spend over $800 million annually on revamping the127-year-old business. Through the Single Digital Agenda, Allianzwill conduct changes through initiatives built on fivepillars. 

C, where insurance penetration is still low, and efficiency inmarkets with higher penetration.

"Insurance companies have much to offer to the African economy.Digitalization allows us to gain considerably better insights intoour individual and institutional customers and thereby to betterserve their needs. We believe deeply in Africa's huge long-termgrowth potential and we will leverage our global footprint andextensive expertise to strengthen our market position and toattract African talent," Bäte said in closing.

Related: Top 100 P&C insurance groups in 2016, ranked bynet premiums written