The National Insurance Commission has thrown a dice signalling the operators to follow after to secure the efforts the Commission is streaming for the industry across the geo-political zones by reaching out to the states where insurance penetration is perceived to be very low..
The Commissioner for Insurance Mr Sunday Thomas,(pictured) gave the charge at the weekend concluded retreat for financial journalists held at Uyo Akwa Ibom State.
He speaks, “We expect the industry to respond to these efforts by bridging the supply gap and ensure they follow up on the Commission’s move to create awareness among high ranking policy makers in order to prove that the industry is ready for the booming opportunities awaiting them across the country.”
Thomas said with measured confidence that the Commission has secured opportunities awaiting the uptake of underwriters and sliced to meet specific needs of intending policyholders. He cited the project with Kano State government as a litmus test “for us as an industry.”
While calling operators to follow after as it breaks fallow insurance ground, he still recognises that it has not been an all drive by the regulator, and admits the operators reflexes is not dormant and, gladly says that “the Nigerian insurance market market has undergone substantial structural and regulatory reforms over the years following the market development initiatives being implemented and the evolution of Nigeria’s financial sector in the last decade which has been characterised by digital transformation.”
He said noted that the improvement so far recorded is a tripod comprising the regulator, operators and the media. Acknowledging the media dimension, Thomas says, “Our (Commission and the media) collective efforts at ensuring the development and growth of the insurance sector will definitely translate to the growth and development of the nation’s economy.”
The Commission’s CEO said the workstation of the Commission has been implementing various market development initiatives to lift the insurance sector to a global standard and, top of the six listed initiatives is, risk based supervision framework followed by its spinning investment in digital capabilities and automation-e.g. launching of NAICOM portal, launch of the Bimalab project on the 9th of February 2021 and, enforcement of the compulsory insurance products in Nigeria- via partnership with agencies and states.
The rest are, capacity development programmes- actuarial, competency framework etc; sensitisation of various stakeholders- MSMEs on benefits of insurance, MDAs insurance desk officers etc and; introduction of regulatory reforms and policies e.g. issuance of web aggregators guidelines.
