To cushion the blow of the deadly coronavirus pandemic on its teeming customers, Wapic Insurance plc, one of Nigeria’s leading underwriters, has become the first underwriter in the country to initiate palliative measures.
The insurer is giving back to the community in which it operates as it is refunding motor vehicle insurance premium to customers, since a lot of people cannot drive their cars due to the lockdown policy imposed by government to contain the spread of the virus.
This act of magnanimity shows the company puts customers first while it continues to deliver a unique customer experience.
Wapic said beyond financial and other contributions it is making to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, it considers it necessary to support its customers, “particularly the most vulnerable during this difficult time”.
“Wapic is a corporate citizen and we continue to pursue several sustainability initiatives. We pride ourselves in giving back to the communities in which we serve and continue to look for ways to contribute,” said Adeyinka Adekoya, its managing director.
“Up to this point our contributions have taken the form of cash donation to NAICOM which was applied as a pool to fund the free life insurance cover for health workers,” said Adekoya.
The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged economies across the world as oil price has lost more than 70 percent since January alone, due to weak demand and dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Economic activities have also slowed down due to the lockdown.
West Texas Intermediate, the US crude benchmark, settled at $16.40 after hitting a negative territory last week. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark that has also been pummelled in recent weeks, was up 5 percent at $21 a barrel.
The Nigerian economy isn’t spared the pang of the crisis as the country is expected to slip into its second recession in five years without enough stimulus package.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigeria’s economy will contract by 3.4 percent in 2020, but rebound with 2.4 percent growth in 2021.
A sharp drop in the price of oil due to lower demand on the back of COVID-19 and dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia forced the central bank to weaken the currency to N360/$ from 306/$.
The Federal Government had reduced its oil projections to 1.7 million barrels and has slashed a record budget of $35 billion it had approved in December by 15 percent.
Insurers are also groaning under the crisis as volumes of transactions have reduced, which could impact negatively on premium income.
The insurance industry is reeling from apathy to insurance.
Nigeria, with a population of 200 million and a GDP of $444 billion, has an insurance penetration of 0.31 percent, even compared with countries with similar GDP per capita, for example, India with insurance penetration at 3.69 percent.
Analysts say operators in the industry can thrive by selling more products to the informal segment of the economy and being more innovative like Wapic, while using mobile technologies like the banks to deepen their customer base.
Wapic’s general business segment includes Wapic Insurance plc and Wapic Insurance Ghana Limited. The company’s life business segment includes Wapic Life Assurance Limited.
Wapic Insurance plc and Wapic Insurance Ghana Limited include general business insurance transactions with individual and corporate customers. Wapic Life Assurance Limited includes life insurance policies with individual and corporate customers.
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