Royal Exchange Insurance Company Limited (REGIC) has embarked on a strategic efforts to strengthen its internal and external capacity as it makes major inroad into agricultural insurance.
The company is boosting the knowledge of its staff as well as its reinsurance and broker partners, to enable close the technical capacity gap in the firms new focus area, agriculture.
Royal Exchange General Insurance Company (REGIC), last week in conjunction with the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), held a two-day Workshop in Lagos on agriculture insurance and climate change products for staff and partners in the Nigerian market.
Speaking during an interview on the sideline of the workshop, Benjamin Agili, managing director/CEO of REGIC said that the workshop is aimed at changing the story of agricultural sector of the economy and contribute in deepening insurance penetration and awareness.
He said that the move is part of efforts to unlock new growth potential that will increase consumer value and better returns on investment to its shareholders.
He explained that the company is also focusing on ensuring food security, increase employment and boost financial inclusion.
“For us, agriculture coverage ticks all the right boxes and can help the company unlock doors to new clientele and market reach in a way that other commercial lines of coverage cannot. We are specifically focusing on the small holder segment, which currently faces risks from climate change consequences to which our insurance packages offer solutions.”
Royal Exchange had in 2017 secured the approval of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to underwrite agric-business.
The Nigeria’s foremost finance and insurance services group also in July this year announced the 39.25 percent acquisition in its general insurance subsidiary, Royal Exchange General Insurance Company (REGIC) by the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), established by the German Development Bank and managed by Swiss based Impact Investment Manager, BlueOrchard Finance Investment Limited (“BlueOrchard”).
The acquisition, which resulted in a N3.6billion capital injection into REGIC is in line with the Commission’s directive for insurance companies to increase their share capital in line with the new regulatory requirements recently introduced.
Modestus Anaesoronye
