The management of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) plc is rooting for new roadmap that would enable the N22 billion asset based company regain its market share as a leader in the nation’s insurance industry. This move, the company said, would impact on its service delivery, claims payment time, relationship with stakeholders and value creation for shareholders and investors.
This is already reflecting in the firm’s relationship with clients, as it paid out claims amounting to N3.5 billion at the end of 2014.
Rotimi Fashola, group managing director of IGI, who has just assumed the new position following the passing on of its founder and executive vice chairman, Remi Olowude, said it was a new dawn in the history of the company.
Fashola, who led top management of IGI to insurance brokers Members Evening in Lagos, said: “For us in IGI, it is a new dawn. We cannot run away from the harsh reality of the business environment today, but I want to assure you that IGI has retooled and poised for a paradigm shift that will take it to greater heights. Our board and management are irrevocably committed to a new IGI that is determined to regain market leadership and delight shareholders with robust return on investment. Our conviction is that we can make it happen in the shortest possible time.”
According to Fashola, “we have carried out a holistic appraisal of our operations and taken steps to address our limitations. The challenges confronting us are being tackled head-on and the signs are clear that our efforts are already yielding positive results, as we are vigorously pursuing a policy that will ensure prompt payment of claims and commissions, an issue which has always generated controversy and bad blood for the insurance industry.”
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For us as a company, this event presents a veritable opportunity to articulate our roadmap and blueprint for a new, improved IGI that we are committed to. Our board and management have embarked on a fresh journey of reappraising our operations in all ramifications with a view to charting a new course that will return our dear company to its pride of place in the industry. In this journey, we consider all of you, distinguished brokers, as a critical success factor, Fashola told the brokers.
IGI started operations in 1992, and in 1996, barely four years after it commenced business, became the first private insurance company in Nigeria to achieve N1 billion in premium income. In 2004, the company maintained its leadership position in the industry with a record premium income in excess of N4 billion, the highest at that time in terms of volume of business by any private insurance company in Nigeria.
Having Yakubu Gowon as chairman right from inception, IGI in 2005 launched the African Expansion Programme which underlined its resolve to be a key player in the African insurance market. This initiative led to the acquisition of 60 percent majority shareholding in the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), Uganda’s number one insurance company, after a competitive international bidding exercise. This groundbreaking feat was followed by similar investments in Sonarwa and The Gamstar, the largest insurance companies in Rwanda and the Gambia, respectively, where IGI has the controlling shares.
One of its efforts in this regard is its extensive network of branches in Nigeria and some parts of the world. In addition to the regional subsidiaries in Uganda, Rwanda and the Gambia, plus a representative office in London, the company operates 45 functional branches which cover all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
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