…Partners states to boost insurance penetration
Maduka Nweke
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said that its Complaint Bureau was able to settle 218 cases worth of N5.5 billion in 2016.
Giving overview of the insurance market, the Commission noted that in 2017, the Insurance Market recorded Gross Written Premium of N235 billion in the third quarter.
In his paper titled, “Expanding the frontier of the Nigerian Insurance Market: NAICOM’s Initiatives”, presented at the two-day Insurance Correspondents’ Seminar held in Benin, Edo State, Dr. Habila Amos, the Director of Research, Statistics and Corporate Strategy, stated that the Commission has perfected agreement with some agencies like the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) among others for the purpose of penetrating insurance in the country.
He said that to increase the tempo, the management team also visited Ogun, Gombe and Kaduna states where possible collaboration was discussed. “The Commission is engaging the Governors’ Forum to deploy the machinery of state governments in the enforcement of Compulsory Insurance. The Commission paid a courtesy visit to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in 2015 to seek support towards ensuring compliance with insurance of government assets by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)”, Amos said.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Commissioner for Insurance (CFI), Mr. Mohammed Kari, who was represented by Mr. Sunday Thomas, the Deputy Commissioner, Technical, said that the second phase of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI), proposed for launching this year, would focus, among other things, on achieving total penetration of insurance in the states.
Kari said that the focus would be on partnership with state governments, collaboration with other sister regulatory agencies, enhancement of market distribution channels and financial inclusion strategies. He said that what was done in the past years was in preparation of the deepening the market and creating awareness.
According to him, the aim is to sustain what has already been achieved while 2018 will commence the second phase of the penetration, adding that the leverage on governor’s forum was for that purpose. He stated that the Commission would encourage competition that should be service based rather than price based. The Commissioner said that it has signed agreements with several agencies to facilitate compliance with compulsory insurance. In his contribution, Mr. Leonard Akah, the Acting Director, Authorisation and Policy, enjoined Nigerians irrespective of religion to patronize Takaful saying its benefits does not distinguish between Muslims and Christians.
Meanwhile, shedding more lights on Index Based Agricultural Insurance (IBAI), Mr. Barineka Thompson, Director for Supervision, said that IBAI was developed to cater for natural disaster as it uses data developed and established for a long time for the particular area.