The Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas, said the Commission is implementing various market developmental initiatives to lift the insurance sector to a global standard.
Delivering a keynote address at a retreat for Financial Journalists, the Commissioner revealed that the initiatives include Risk Based Supervision framework, encouraging investment in digital capabilities & automation –launching of NAICOM Portal, enforcement of the compulsory insurance products in Nigeria – via partnership with agencies and states, capacity development programmes – Actuarial, competency framework.
Others are: 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.
According to him, the theme “Improving Insurance Access through Market Development and Innovation in 2022 and beyond” was in line with his administration’s cardinal agenda of developing the market and deepening penetration.
“Our 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 Nigerian Insurance 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 characterized by digital transformation.
He said: “We are trying to open up the market across the geo-political zones by reaching out to the states where insurance penetration is perceived to be very low. 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.
“The Commission recently partnered with Financial Sector Deepening Africa, FSD Africa to launch the Bimalab Nigeria, a program aimed at accelerating the insurtech innovation. TheThe web aggregators’ guideline is also aimed at opening access to insurance and also a means of creating a convenient market for insurance.”
Thomas maintained that the commission was exploring ways to take insurance to where the other financial sectors are or even surpass them. Financial transactions are more of a one stop shop for everything and it is either we key in or we lose the business to more innovative outlets that will seize it from us.
He added that payment of claims has an issue that put the entire industry on the edge, thus, the commission would start ranking companies on the number of claims received and settled on annual basis and would intend to publish such ranking for the insurance consumers. “The Commission is doing all it can to see that the non-settlement of claims is brought to its barest minimum in the sector,” he said.