Nigeria: NAICOM Encourages Tech Adoption to Boost Insurance Penetration

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has issued a call to insurance industry stakeholders, urging them to harness technological advancements in extending insurance products and services to a wider Nigerian audience, thus driving greater insurance penetration.

Speaking at a recent media retreat organized for insurance and pension journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, NAICOM emphasized that technology adoption is the way forward for the industry.

In recent years, the insurance sector has witnessed the emergence of key technology trends that have had an impact on nearly every sector. NAICOM pointed out that a plethora of technological advancements and shifts has reshaped how products and services are accessed and delivered to customers.

Insurance penetration, as defined by NAICOM, is a metric that measures the contribution of insurance to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It serves as an indicator of a country’s insurance sector development and its contribution to the national economy.

Ibrahim Ngaski, Assistant Director of the Information Technology Department at NAICOM, addressed the topic of “Leveraging Technology to Promote Insurance Penetration” at the retreat. Ngaski highlighted that insurance companies could maintain a competitive edge by automating, improving, and optimizing their business processes while maintaining efficiency, quality, and response times.

He emphasized that the adoption of technology would lead to enhanced employee productivity, expedited processes, improved customer service levels, elevated customer experiences, reduced operational costs, and increased operational efficiency.

Ngaski stressed the urgent need for the insurance industry to embrace technology to provide digital solutions. He explained that such a move would enhance insurance accessibility by offering digital distribution channels, making it easier for customers to access insurance products and coverage, expediting coverage issuance and claims processing, and introducing innovative products to customers.

The following technologies were cited by Ngaski as providing digital solutions to boost insurance penetration:

1. Cloud Computing: Enabling the delivery of various services over the internet, offering flexibility in data management.
2. Mobile Technology: Facilitating communication and marketing of various goods and services to customers, making services more accessible and enhancing customer experiences.
3. Internet of Things (IoT): The interconnection of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items, embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity. IoT enables data collection and exchange, with insurers increasingly using it to identify customer needs and risks. Wearables, smart devices in vehicles, and consumer products in homes are employed for data collection, sharing, interaction, and analysis.