Job Osazuwa
Nigeria, AXA Mansard Plc, has re-echoed its commitment to ensuring that Nigerian youths are technically empowered to cope with today’s global business challenges.
The company made this known in Lagos at a partnership deal with Techpoint Africa, saying that supporting the growth in technology and the youths was top in the company’s priority.
The Chief Digital Officer, Axa Mansard, Mr. Bayo Adesanya, said Nigeria has over 60 percent of its population under the age of 30, but decried that the majority of the citizenry was not well represented in the insurance and non-banking financial service space.
According to him, coverage for insurance in Nigeria is below one per cent. “So if you are going to address that, and we are going to spread the benefits that come from the services that is provided in the sector; it is important to engage the youth in a digital technology-driven way.”
He said the company, which is a member of the AXA Group and global leader in insurance and asset management, has been leveraging technology to scale up traditional insurance and boost investment for every Nigerian. He stressed that technology also helps one to reduce the cost of providing services.
“The whole world is digital already and so AXA Mansard gets that. So I set up a team that is dedicated to e-commerce and digital transformation. Our objectives and focus are to take our services to as many people that we can reach using digital channels. As part of the measure to reach out to many people, we recently launched the USSD service which takes our services to people who may not have smart phones.
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“Our aim is to identify with two areas: technology space with the understanding that the whole world is going digital already and the other is to identify with the youth because they are the future. There is a large vibrant, growing community of Nigerian youths who are doing fantastic things with technology and also outside technology. So, we identify with them, and AXA Mansard is changing the narrative and changing the traditional structure service area.
“We have products that are geared towards the youths. For instance, the auto insurance that allows you to choose different types of bouquet, not just the traditional annual payment for insurance product. We also allow people pay periodically. Beyond that, there is also a life-saving product for as little as N1, 000, as well as build on a saving culture. In essence, you are saving and you also have insurance.
“Our investment products are also as little as N2, 000. You can start with an investment plan; nobody is asking you to bring the traditional amount of N1 million before you can do investment. You can save every day, weekly or monthly.
“Our advice to start-ups is that you have to find a problem to solve; if there is a legitimate problem you are solving then there is a demand for that service. Secondly, you need to stay committed to that cause and I think the rest of it will resolve itself,” he said.
Adesanya said Nigeria is a developing country with diverse opportunities for those who are willing to find problem and provide solution to them. He assured that there would always be some reward for taking such a step.
He expressed confidence that AXA Mansard Insurance would be the number one digital platform for non-banking financial services in the next five years.
Speaking on the partnership with Techpoint Africa, the convener of the programme, Mr. Adewale Yusuf, said: “We believe AXA Mansard is a strong brand and well-recognised, and because we are a global brand, we taking advantage of the partnership.
“AXA Mansard is a good partner playing a vital role in supporting SMEs, technology development in Nigeria and giving the youths the tools to start with, and we look forward to more of this.”