The National Insurance Commission and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry are seeking to increase insurance penetration that will prepare the industry to meet future needs of businesses and economic expansion.
The regulator and stakeholders in the sector spoke during the annual Insurance Stakeholders’ Forum, with the theme, ‘Insurance Industry – Breaking New Frontiers’, organised by the LCCI to discuss issues bordering on the growth of the Nigerian insurance industry.
At the event, which held virtually and was widely attended by stakeholders in the financial sector, the Sunday Thomas, commissioner for Insurance said NAICOM was putting measures in place to boost insurance penetration and prepare the industry for the future.
He said, “They are not essentially things that are limited to the present practice; we are looking beyond now, that is why we are looking at guideline restructuring, our technology and devices, and governance issues.
“I think all these are pointers that we are ready for the future because we know that what we are doing now presently, both as operators and regulators will not take us so far.”
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Gboyega Olanbiwoninu, chairman, Insurance Trade Group, LCCI, while noting that insurance penetration was less than one per cent, said it was important to look into some of the reasons, and how the sector could change the trajectory.
“We must as an industry take advantage of global direction towards a knowledge-based economy, which warrants that services, including insurance, are delivered with speed and without losing the content of ethics and integrity, which are the hallmarks of the profession,” he said.
Olabode Ogunlana, doyen of Insurance, noted that the main purpose of insurance in an economy was to protect and conserve the wealth of the nation to create additional wealth.
He said, “As at now, insurance penetration of the economic and social life of the nation is abysmally low. This is where the task of breaking new frontiers should begin. How many individuals in Nigeria know what insurance and its values to homes and to the society as a whole are?”
Micheal Olawale-Cole, deputy president of LCCI, said the chamber looked forward to working with NAICOM for the growth and development of the industry and the country at large.
He urged insurance operators to be proactive in order to catch up with developments occasioned by the global pandemic.
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