Nigeria insurers eye technology to deepen penetration, acceptance

As part of plan to increase insurance contribution to Nigeria’s GDP, deepen penetration and acceptance, insurance operators say they are considering adopting a uniform technology.

Briefing insurance journalists at the end of the quarterly Insurers’ Committee meeting in Lagos, recently, the Head, Media and Publicity Sub-Committee, Mr. Oye Hassan Odukale, said that the plan will help the industry reduce cost.

Odukale, mentioned that the industry is working with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to achieve the feat.

Odukale, who is also the Managing Director of Leadway Assurance Plc, maintained that officers of NIBSS had made a presentation to the committee, of which they were happy about the initiative.

He said the committee had mandated its information subcommittee to examine the initiative and advise the general body.

He noted that the implementation of the initiative when adopted would help reduce the overheads of many insurance companies, adding that the initiative has helped the bankers in reducing and managing their overheads.

Speaking on the proposed insurance rebranding project, the Media and Publicity Sub-Committee Chairman said that the industry has agreed to kick start the project with effect from October 1st, 2016.

He cleared that the project is a joint initiative of all the underwriting firms in the country, saying, each of the insurance firms is contributing towards the project.

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Stating that insurance operators are going to effectively use social media and radio to publicise the concept, he said the aim of the insurance rebranding was to increase insurance penetration, adoption, and acceptance, thereby, erasing the negative perception some people have on insurance products and services.

On Risk Based Supervision (RBS), he said it’s a work in progress that doesn’t happen overnight, as the regulator, that is, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and operators have to look at the framework together before proceeding to give a date to implement it. He stressed that the regulators want to ensure the RBS is done the right way in a bid to give credibility to the system.

Also, the Vice Chairman, Sub-Committee Publicity, Eberechukwu Nwanchukwu, said the committee is also working on improving customers’ relations, stressing that the committee believed the rebranding initiative being worked on by the industry can only be successful when customers are treated with high esteem.