The Nigerian insurance industry slid behind growth forecasts for 2019.
This was largely due to the significant development and challenges in the external environment.
This below the mark description which applied to the insurance industry, was captured by the chairman, Nigerian Liability Insurance Pool, Mr Edwin Igbiti, at the 10th yearly meeting held in Lagos, it was virtual.
Igbiti said the shock-effect that wired the global economy in 2019, was adverse on economies that were largely reliant on import revenues such as Nigeria.
He noted that insurers have a perspective that showed significant shifts in customer needs and risk profile.
The response of insurers Igbiti said, was evident in increased agility and economic capital for operators to compete in a rapidly evolving world.
The economic uncertainties in the global stage, combined with Nigeria’s headwinds – insurgency, kidnapping, corruption/fraud, further stifled an economy already battling low growth, dwindling revenues, rising debt burden, high poverty levels and weak public institutions. These obstacles made it difficult for the industry to attain the projected N440b (10% growth) in 2019 over N400b attained in 2018. It closed the year with N413.8b, 3.25% increase over 2018 performance.
