Insurance

Insurers renew commitment to retail business

From left: Pius Karieren; Chairman, ORC of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Tope Smart; Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr Eddie Efekoha; President Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Richard Borokini; Director General, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and Mrs Adetutu Arusiuka, Member of the Governing Council, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria at the 2018 ORC Annual Workshop , held at NEM Insurance building Lagos.

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Chuks Udo Okonta

Going back to retail business remains the panacea to poor growth of insurance industry, experts have said.

They expressed this at the 2018 Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Offices Representative Committee (ORC) workshop in Lagos.

The President of the CIIN, Eddie Efekoha, said operators have over the years, abandoned retail market thinking that there is no much income from that sector, forgetting that people within that bracket contribute more to the economy.

He called on insurers to rethink their decision and focus on retail which has the capacity to turn around the fortune of the industry.

He lauded members of the ORC for their enormous contributions to the growth of the institute and by extension the economy.

He urged participants at the event to be apostles of retail business and should ensure that whatever they acquired from the workshop is shared with others.

Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Tope Smart, said retail business remains the future of the industry. “What we do is to chase the billions, leaving the people at the grassroots,” he said.

He posited that the various targets set to deepen insurance penetration, will not be achieved until operators give the needed attention to retail business.

“Many people do not know about insurance and we are talking of deepening insurance penetration. We cannot achieve this if the market women and others at the grassroots are neglected. If we want to take insurance from where it is to the next level we need to address the issue of retail,” he added.

The NIA Chairman, noted that issues concerning retail should be placed at the forefront so as to reach the unreached in the society.

From left: Director General, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mrs Yetunde Ilori; Abodunrin Roberts of Scib Nigeria Limited and Mrs Mary Adeyanju of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc at the event.

The Director-General, NIA, Mrs Yetunde Ilori, in a paper entitled, ‘Retail Insurance Distribution Perspectives: Challenges and Opportunities’, urged operators to evolve broad range of relevant products that should be channeled through digital and non-digital channels.

She canvassed the need to focus on SMEs, women, youths, agricultural producers, households and individuals, especially those in the informal sector.

She called for reform of the distribution channels, stressing that the present channels limits effective utilisation of alternative distribution channels.

She noted that the total adult population of Nigeria is 96.4 million, of which 59.6 million (61.9 per cent) dwell in rural areas, stressing that efforts should be made to take insurance business to these people.

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