SanlamAllianz in Ghana has sponsored four elite Ghanaian athletes to compete in the 2026 Cape Town Marathon in South Africa on May 23 and 24.

The athletes are Koogo Atia, Seidu Salifu, Richard Kweitu and Kwabena Frempong.

SanlamAllianz Life Insurance and SanlamAllianz General Insurance held a farewell ceremony in Accra on Thursday ahead of the team’s departure.

The quartet earned selection after finishing as the top four athletes at the Absa Black Star Marathon, securing Ghana’s representation in the 42.2-kilometre race on May 24.

Speaking at the event, CEO/Country Lead of SanlamAllianz Life Insurance Ghana, Tawiah Ben-Ahmed, urged the athletes to make Ghana proud in South Africa.

“Listening to them, some of them said, ‘Well, we thought we could have had other opportunities,’ and they were quite excited that we came through to sponsor them. They didn’t know us, and they didn’t have to go through any process with us," Ben-Ahmed said.

“We found them befitting of sponsorship for the Sanlam Cape Marathon and, with this opportunity, we expect that they will first represent themselves well and, secondly, represent SanlamAllianz well and, most importantly, represent Ghana well. As they go to South Africa, they must definitely be great ambassadors of Ghana and come home with a lot of achievements so that we can gather here again and celebrate them.”

CEO/Managing Director of SanlamAllianz General Insurance Ghana, Mabel Porbley, explained the company’s decision to support the athletes.

“For us at Sanlam, we believe that we do not only work in countries, we work in communities, and so we support the communities. We do not only look at profitability, we look at how we engage the communities in which we work. Playing is part of how we engage, and so this marathon is the playing part of what we do.

“We are sponsoring this not because we knew them, but because it is something that we do as a business in supporting opportunities.”

This year’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will also feature legendary Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge as part of his global “Eliud’s Running World” tour.