The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce (LCCI) have stressed the need to increase insurance penetration in Nigeria.
This was the submission of stakeholders at the yearly insurance forum held virtually and attended by stakeholders across the financial sector. It was organised by the LCCI to find solutions to challenges affecting the growth of the insurance industry.
At the event, the Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas, said NAICOM has put in place measures to increase insurance penetration and prepare the industry for the future.
He said: “They are not essential things that are limited to the present practice; we are looking beyond now. That is why we are looking at guideline restructuring, technology and devices and governance issues.
“I think all these are pointers that we are ready for the future because we know that what we are doing now, both as operators and regulators, will not take us far.”
The Chairman of the Insurance Trade Group of LCCI, Gboyega Olanbiwoninu, noted that insurance penetration was less than one per cent. He said it was important to look into some of the reasons insurance had not gained traction and how the growth trajectory could be changed.
“We must take advantage of global direction towards a knowledge-based economy, which means that services, including insurance, are delivered with speed and without losing the content of ethics and integrity, which are the hallmarks of the profession,” he said.
The doyen of insurance, Olabode Ogunlana, noted that the main purpose of insurance in an economy was to protect and conserve the wealth of the nation and create additional wealth. “As of now, insurance penetration of the economic and social life of the nation is abysmally low. This is where the task of breaking new frontiers should begin,” he said.