July 12 (Reuters) - British insurer Prudential said it had bought a majority stake in Nigeria's Zenith Life to give it access to the African country's fast-growing insurance market.

It said it had also signed a deal with the Nigerian insurer's parent Zenith Bank Plc to sell life and other insurance products via the bank in Nigeria and Ghana.

"Today's announcement is an important milestone for Prudential and our growing portfolio of high-quality life insurance businesses in Africa," Matt Lilley, chief executive of Prudential Africa. (bit.ly/2temiRb)

Zenith Life, which had gross written premiums worth 3.3 billion Naira ($10.82 million) at the end of 2016, will be rebranded as Zenith-Prudential Life Insurance.

Prudential did not say what size stake it had bought or how much it had paid.

Prudential already has operations in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia in Africa.