Our stakeholders

We exist to enhance the quality of our stakeholders' lives. Therefore, engaging meaningfully with our various stakeholders is critical to ensure we are meeting this aim.

AfroCentric considers its stakeholders as individuals and groups who have an interest in or who are affected by our activities. They range from our employees to the external bodies who influence us. They are connected by the groups that we regularly engage with. The approach of our Board and executive management to our stakeholders is inclusive - we engage our stakeholders responsively, constructively, collaboratively and transparently to address their material needs, interests and expectations and respond in a mutually beneficial manner. Our Social and Ethics Committee provides governance oversight to stakeholder engagement.

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Government and regulators

  

Industry bodies

Various levels of government determine the environment in which we operate.

Organisations that monitor and regulate our environment include:

  • Council for Medical Schemes (CMS)
  • Medicines Control Council
  • South African Pharmacy Council
  • The JSE
  • Competition Commission
  • Financial Sector Conduct Forum
  • South African Revenue Service
  

Bodies that oversee healthcare-related matters:

  • Body of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa
  • Health Professions Council of South Africa
  • Hospital Association of South Africa
  • Doctor's Health Council
  • Public Health Enhancement Forum
How this relationship creates value   How this relationship creates value
Policy and regulatory decisions directly impact AfroCentric and its subsidiary entities. By engaging with government and regulators, we are able to contribute to shaping an environment that supports our mission of innovating a new integrated model of sustainable healthcare that measurably improves access to quality healthcare. Furthermore, by seeking to support national and provincial spheres of government through delivering services that meet their mandate, we are able to develop sustainable revenue streams.   Industry bodies provide vital opportunities to interact with broader industry players with regard to critical interests in the healthcare sector. In some instances, they open the channels of communication to government and regulators, particularly in instances where policymakers and regulators seek industry-wide positions. Through engagement with these bodies, we are able to contribute our technical expertise and in-depth knowledge to pertinent industry topics.
Key concerns raised   Key concerns raised

A critical recurring concern from both government (NDoH) and regulators (CMS) across the sector is the lack of material growth in the number of medical scheme members over the years.

CMS published a circular on low-cost benefit options (LCBO) and demarcation products and the need for them to be wound down by no later than March 2021. This position was based on the framework that had initially been utilised by CMS to issue exemptions to applicable products.

  
  • The role of medical schemes within the NHI environment
  • Legal challenges in the draft NHI bill as gazetted by parliament
  • Medical scheme sustainability in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The need for medical schemes and other industry players to support government in the COVID-19 pandemic response
How we responded   How we responded

We submitted technical commentary as an alternative to pursuing the summary decision to wind down demarcation and LCBO products in March 2021. We recommended that CMS undertake a more consultative approach.

For more information on this engagement, please see the unpacking our performance.

  
  • Prepared detailed commentary on the draft NHI policy document and submitted these to the NDoH
  • Prepared and submitted to parliament detailed technical inputs on the NHI bill
  • Formally submitted a request to the Portfolio Committee on Health to make representations on the basis of the document submitted. Awaiting confirmation of when AfroCentric will be expected to present
  • Ongoing engagements with government and regulators through various processes to understand strategies for COVID-19 and determine how best AfroCentric can participate and support, where possible
  • Engagement with provinces to indicate capability to support and assist in the roll out of the COVID-19 pandemic response, e.g. liaising with private hospital groups on bed capacity and how providers (GPs, specialists and nurses, as well as pathology and radiology services) can be contracted to help with addressing the patient burden (especially for critical care)


Employees

  

Our clients - medical schemes
How this relationship creates value  

Our clients are also our direct link to the end-user of our services, which is the medical scheme members.

Our schemes include:

  • Open schemes: Bonitas, Fedhealth, Medshield and Hosmed
  • Closed schemes: AECI, Barloworld, GEMS, Horizon, MBMed, MEDiPOS, NedGroup, ParMed, POLMED, SABC, SAMWUMED and Sasolmed
  • Schemes outside of South Africa: NAMMED, Namibia Health Plan and Sovereign Health

Motivated employees are critical to delivering exceptional client service.
Key concerns raised
  • An employer who empowers their people and enables them to achieve their potential
  • Leaders who are accountable and fair
How we responded   How this relationship creates value
  • Offered an industry-aligned employee value proposition
  • ACT FIRST culture journey to help engage employees in Group purpose and enhance alignment
  • The new AfroCentric leadership competency model was rolled out
   Retaining and growing our medical scheme clients is critical to our sustainability.
Key concerns raised

Our shareholders and investors

These include institutional and individual investors.
How this relationship creates value

Our providers of capital enable us to diversify our revenue sources and grow our business.
Key concerns raised
  • Sustainable value creation
  • Consistent financial performance
  • Sound investment returns
How we responded
With effective delivery against our growth strategy, we achieved:
  • Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.4% revenue growth (2016 to 2020)
  • Return on equity of 14.7%
  • Dividend yield of 9.2%
 
  • Member retention in the current context
  • Maintaining service levels during the pandemic
  • Addressing co-payments to address member concerns
  • FWA
  • Understanding our unique value proposition
  • Sound claims management
  • Technology innovations to reduce cost and improve service
How we responded
  • ACT FIRST culture journey to support service excellence
  • Leveraging the elements of our value chain to address the rise in healthcare costs and increase affordability
  • Significant engagement around models of contracting with doctors and hospitals to address the issue of co-payments
  • Supplemented administration and managed care services with additional contracts
  • Established claims excellence forum to address claims underperformance
  • Implemented decision rules management system to improve claims efficiency