Paul Nyathi|Swiss Re has appointed Zimbabwean Tavaziva Madzinga as new chief executive officer (CEO) of UK & Ireland (UKI), succeeding Frank O’Neill who left the reinsurer in September.

Madzinga, currently market executive for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) across both property/casualty and life/health, will be based in London and remain a member of the EMEA management team. He will assume his new role from January 2019.

Swiss Re said the search for Madzinga’s successor in MEA has been initiated.

Madzinga joined Swiss Re in 2016 from South African insurer Old Mutual, where he was regional CEO for South & East Africa.

Russell Higginbotham, CEO reinsurance EMEA, Swiss Re said: “I am delighted to have Tava as the leader of our business in the UK and Ireland. His strong and successful leadership of the Middle East & Africa region shows that he is the ideal candidate to lead and grow our UKI business. This appointment also shows our intention to continuously develop and grow the strong bench of talent we have at Swiss Re.”

– Intelligent Insurer