… as KPMG holds 2017 insurance conference
President of the National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and chairman of Wapic Insurance plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, has urged insurance companies in Nigeria to recapitalise by five times their current capital base to grow the sector and attract more investments, at the KPMG Insurance Conference 2017, in Lagos.
Speaking on “Transforming the Insurance Industry,” Aigboje, represented by Oyebode Ojeniyi, said the total asset of the entire insurance sector in Nigeria was about N800 billion, while the total asset of a single bank in Nigeria was above the total assets of insurers put at N800 billion, which justified the low penetration level of the sector.
According to Aigboje, insurers in Nigeria should look for ways of collaborating with the banking sector to sell its products. “Worldwide insurers go through the banking industry to sell insurance because the banking sector has the needed networks to distribute products. One of the major challenges of the sector in Nigeria is the issue of trust; working directly with the banks will bridge this challenge of trust” he said.
George Onekhena, deputy commissioner of insurance (finance and administration), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), said changes in the market should not be regulators driven; instead the insurers should adopt innovative approach to deepen penetration in the sector.
George, who spoke on “Risk-Based Supervision: Regulator’s Perspective” said, NAICOM will upgrade collaboration with other agencies to enforce compulsory insurance and deepen the sector in Nigeria.
According to George, insurers must be innovative in their products development and consider the financial implication of every product created in to the market. He opined that risk-based supervision (RBS) is just the financial implication of insurance liability that is regularly updated to reflect the realities in the sector.
George is of the opinion that some of the insurance products in Nigeria are based on thoughts without any financial implication analysis to back them up. He is of the opinion that the industry should adopt the building block approach for the sector in line with the road map created by NAICOM.
The KPMG annual insurance conference provides opportunities for CEOs, CFOs, and Actuaries of Insurance and Re-insurance Companies to deliberate on the future of the industry in Nigeria and proffer solutions for the way forward.
Seyi John Salau
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