Nigeria has given its backing to full implementation of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme to guarantee prompt compensation to victims of road accident within the ECOWAS member states.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of Finance, budget and national planning while speaking at the inauguration of Ganiyu Musa, as the chairman of Council of Bureaux, ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme, in Abuja noted that, the existence of the scheme and its effective implementation will stimulate integration of the West African Regional Block preparatory to the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) subscribe to by most of ECOWAS countries.
Ahmed, who was represented by the commissioner for Insurance/CEO of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Sunday Thomas, applauded the initiative that welcomes the free movement of goods and services within a sub region and promotes intra – regional investments and cooperation, saying, it is a huge step in the right direction for economic integration.
While the new chairman of the Bureaux will be examining the appropriate governance for the National bureaux, he said, there are challenges that must be addressed if the objectives of the ECOWAS Brown Card Scheme is to be fully achieved.
He listed some of those challenges to include: lack of respect for the agreement signed by member countries; delay in settlement of claims due to victims; inadequate funding of the National Bureaux; lack of public awareness and education; fraud in the acquisition of the certificate at the borders; inadequate commitment to reconciliation and cross settlement; low level of technology application in the distribution and general implementation of the scheme, among others.
While congratulating the new chairman of the bureaux, who doubles as the chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), he wished him success in his tenure, hoping that he can turn the tide around for the better.
In his acceptance speech, Ganiyu Musa, promised to address all the highlighted challenges bedeviling the success of the scheme, promising to leverage on the successes already recorded to reshape and promote the scheme among West African countries.
He believes the brown card insurance scheme is an idea that could transform insurance, especially, motor insurance scheme across the borders of West African countries, adding that, it is an initiative that can raise insurance awareness and penetration across the region.
The main objective of the scheme, he said, is to ensure prompt and fair compensation to the victims of road accidents for the damages caused them by non residing motorists travelling from other ECOWAS member States to their country.
According to him, “the ECOWAS Brown Card Scheme operates through a 14 (fourteen) National Bureaux network spread throughout the fourteen Member States. Each National Bureau plays two major roles. The National Bureau operates therefore as an Issuing Bureau to ensure Brown Card availability for local motorists, while also conducting investigation and settle claims arising from an accident caused by motorist holders of Brown Card.”
Musa is currently the chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) and the group managing director, Cornerstone Insurance Plc.
Ganiyu Musa is a highly experienced management professional with over 35 years of diversified experience in insurance, reinsurance, audit, consulting, business advisory and financial management. His professional experience started with Pannell Kerr Forster and later Arthur Andersen & Co where he trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant and gained top quality experience in audit and financial consulting.
He subsequently worked at African Reinsurance Corporation for 19 years, holding key positions, including Director of Finance & Accounts/Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Managing Director.He left Africa Re in 2011 to join African Capital Alliance (ACA), a leading pan-African private equity firm as Insurance Sector Specialist and a Director on the Board of Cornerstone Insurance Plc. He joined Cornerstone Insurance Plc in 2012 as the Group Managing Director/CEO and he is the current Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association having also served as Deputy Chairman and Treasurer.
Ganiyu holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hons.) degree in Business Administration and a Master in Banking and Finance (MBF) degree, both from the University of Lagos.
