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Stakeholders in the insurance industry have harped on the need to embrace sustainable strategies that will increase insurance penetration among Nigerians.
They believe that underwriters must work towards creating innovative products with advanced technology, human capacity building, and increase insurance awareness to boost customer experience in order to achieve sustainability in the sector. These were some of the resolutions of the stakeholders during the 4th edition of the ‘Insurance September 2020’ held virtually with a theme, “Insurance and Sustainability” which was organized by an insurance consultant, Mr. Ekerete Gam-Ikon.
In his address, Gam-Ikon reiterated the need for better insurance experience in Nigeria noting that insurance sustainability was critical for the next generation of customers.
Speaking at the event, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Institution Training Centre (FITC), Mrs. Chizor Malize, asserted that the insurance industry needs more partnership and collaboration as this would bring more business opportunities. According to her, insurance operators must ensure higher innovative products for deeper penetration and acceptance among Nigerians. She said, “As an operator in the industry, you must consistently seek where your market is going, the trends, where the opportunities are coming from and with technology innovation, partnership and product innovation, the industry would experience deeper penetration.”
On his part, Former President of the Nigerian Council Of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB ), Mr. Shola Tinubu, noted that awareness is critical and should be well treated adding that there cannot be a one hundred percent the consensus when it comes to collaboration but the industry can work together in terms of communication and engagement. Also according to the Managing Director Crystal Trust Insurance Brokers Limited, Mrs. Ekeome Ezeibe, it is necessary for the industry operators to be effectively trained and retrained in order to advance with the changes in the industry. Ezeibe, who was the keynote speaker, stated that the theme of the event was imperative to piloting the sector as a tool for driving sustainability in a Post-COVID-19 era.
Speaking on sustainability, she said there is a need for the issuance of new products, a collaboration between insurance stakeholders and brokers to achieve sustainability for the economy. According to her, the global economy has had less capacity to absorb shocks in 2020 than in 2007 and would require more risk protection for citizens. In her remarks, Guest speaker and CEO Travellab Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Shalom Asuquo-Ankoh, stated that the pandemic provided an opportunity for innovative thinking for the growth of the economy generally.
According to her, the advent of technology has provided opportunities for adopting ways of driving seamless insurance services. “We need to look at things like AI, drones, also looking at the tourism space are the insurance companies catching up on all these? She noted that in order to bring about sustainability, there is a need for availability, affordability, and accessibility.
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