Chiamaka Ajeamo
Stakeholders in the pension and insurance sectors have implored their regulators to enforce light regulations that would attract informal sector into financial inclusion through the micro agenda.
This is even as the stakeholders tasked operators of both sectors to roll out financial products and services to suit the specific needs of Nigerians in the informal sector at an affordable cost.
The stakeholders, who stated this in Lagos at the 4th National Conference of National Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO), with the theme ‘Financial Inclusion: The micro agenda for insurance and pension sectors’, stated that for the informal sector which is the target of the Federal Government as regards micro agenda to fully embrace the initiative, regulators and operators need to understand the dynamics of the informal sector.
The Chairman of the event, pioneer Director General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Muhammed Ahmad, said that the informal sector is critical to the growth, development and success of the micro pension and insurance industry because a higher percentage of Nigerians fall into the informal sector.
Ahmad said that to deepen penetration in the two sectors, regulators must not assume they understand the business nature of the informal sectors but rather ensure information is made available to them from the sector while enforcing light regulations to protect and promote their businesses.
He added that operators should be creative and innovative with their products and also employ technology because it is a major instrument which drives financial inclusion.
Also speaking, the General Secretary of the Federation for Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON), Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, said that for the informal sector to buy into the micro pension scheme, operators need to deploy traditional means of sensitization such as storytelling as most workers in the sector do not understand the message being passed across when modern advertisements are solely used.
He said, “operators should work on the best mode of contribution to encourage people to contribute frequently so that the scheme does not end up like the situation we had with the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), where some people contributed for a certain period and stopped due to circumstances like job loss, change of job; and they losed their money in the process because they discontinued it.
“To ensure sustainability of the scheme and for it to serve its core purpose, operators need to look at existing schemes like the cooperatives saving or rotational savings,” he advised.
On his part, the Managing Director/CEO High-Gate Consulting Limited, Mr. Wilson Ideva, accessibility, less documentation and utilisation of technology is key in deepening the micro agenda in the informal sector because they are voluntary in nature and other alternatives exist.
According to the President, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), and MD/CEO of Leadway Pensure, Aderonke Adedeji, Nigeria huge adult population is a great potential for the success of the micro agenda however, the journey to the success of this initiative requires patience, flexible regulations, intense education and awareness creation as well as creativity and innovation in form of ideas, products and how the message is passed across to the informal sector.
For the Managing Director of FBN General Insurance, Bode Opadokun, representing the Chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Tope Smart, affordability in the cost of insurance products for the informal sector is highly relevant as well as education and enlightenment of the benefits consumers stand to gain when he buys into the scheme.
“This people have different businesses that need protection. When we engage them regularly, we will know their needs at various points in time and this will solve the problem of giving out old products for new needs. We also need to innovate because we cannot be carrying out same tasks and be expect new results”, he stated.
The Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Fatai Adegbenro, said that to deepen micro insurance in the informal sector, there should be accessibility and simplicity of insurance transactions, value proposition should be used in selling products, intensive advertisements and endorsements while using storytelling to create relevance about the exploits of the insurance sector should be deployed.