Policy Administration Software for Africa

Gawie Erasmus has recently been appointed CEO of SDT, the financial services software company in the JSE-listed SilverBridge Group. He takes over from Jaco Swanepoel, who will be focussing all his energies on SilverBridge.

"We have appointed Gawie as CEO to eliminate confusion between operations at group and company level, and to enhance governance," says Swanepoel. "Gawie had been operating as COO for the last two years, making his elevation to CEO a logical one.

"Secondly, it is sometimes necessary in the evolution of a company that the founders need to step down from the day-to-day management, which I am now doing after 14 years."

Erasmus, a CA by training, spent time with KPMG and former JSE-listed CS Holdings before joining SDT. In his time with the company it has grown rapidly, from 68 people in 2007 to just under 100 today, with an equally rapidly growing customer base. "I aim to continue this growth," says Erasmus, " by growing our presence in Tier One insurance customers, enhance our strong focus on Africa, and a drive into emerging markets elsewhere."

"We have laid the foundation for growth through a rigorous emphasis on governance; building a strong management team; employing only the finest people - all our customer-facing people are degreed professionals; and by empowering our clients to control the risks of application management effectively."This kind of growth will not be easy, as our success in the African market means many more competitors are moving into our space. I am however confident that we have paid our school fees in Africa, and we have much to offer the African market. This will give us an edge over Eurocentric offerings. Key in this regard will be our solution's ability to deliver insurance products through any channel customers want, whether it's via the Web or cellphone."