Text of the Speech Delivered at the Members’ Evening of the NCRIB Lagos by Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, MD/CEO, African Alliance Insurance on 22 February, 2022
The President NCRIB,
Members of the Council of NCRIB,
Distinguished Elders,
All brokers here present,
The Management and Staff of African Alliance Insurance,
Our Guest Speaker,
Members of the Press,
Ladies and gentlemen,
As always, it is my delight to stand here today to share with you, African Alliance Insurance gospel of resilience, strength and perseverance. Despite the global economic uncertainties, the foremost life insurance company has served so many, across generations, having being in the business of insurance for 62 years, we believe it is our duty to intimate our critical stakeholders, the body of brokers, of our strides thus far as well as our plans to be the most agreeable business partner for all of you.
Ladies and gentlemen, I boldly state that we have made Progress, there is no better word to define the massive changes, and growth experienced in our business in the past 1 Year+ of my resumption as the MD/ CEO of our great organization. Indeed the grace of God has been sufficient, even amiss the pandemic, we have moved upward and forward.
In the next few minutes, I will be taking us through the progress we have made thus far, as it relates to our mutual interests.
Our Claims Profile
It is paramount to every insurer to pay claims as this is fundamental to our existence as a business. This principle is taken as a responsibility in our company and has inspired us to continually pay claims promptly which is demonstrated in the billions we have paid in claims year in year out.
In 2021 business year, we paid claims exceeding N7.59bn to our customers, a substantial bulk of which were for annuity claims and the Group Life. This shows an increase of over N590m in claims payment in the prior year. As earlier stated, this is a clear confirmation of our unchanging commitment to paying genuine claims.
For proper representation, I will begin to highlight the breakdown of the figures of claims by product line paid for 2021 business year;
CLAIMS JAN- DEC 2021
INDIVIDUAL 1,234,586,643.21
GROUP 1,356,946,902.47
TAKAFUL 626,484,201.07
ESUSU 25,178,089.57
ANNUITY 4,348,670,916.82
TOTAL 7,591,866,753.14
Refocussing our attention to the present, in January 2022, we have paid a total of N723.96m in claims.
Group Life N81.89m
Individual Life N137.96m
Takaful N128m
Esusu N7.3m
Annuity N368.78m
Our claims efforts have been helped by strong reinsurance treaties with top reinsurers as our partners.
Our Recapitalisation Plans
• The company injected about N14.4B through assets conversion as at December 2020, this has indeed improved our shareholders fund considerably and increased our asset base.
• Furthermore, the company will be increasing its capital base through right issues targeted at significant shareholders in addition to getting new investors to buy into the company.
• Business combination which is our last resort in the event that the above plans are not adequate.
Market Expansion
The key strategic goal in 2021 was to grow our premium income via deliberate market expansion into untapped regions with good prospects for life insurance. To that effect, we have launched the retail marketing expansion strategy which led to the opening of offices in Abeokuta and Akure. In 2022, we are moving northwards as we look to reestablish presence in Ilorin and Jos as well as other prospective locations.
Product Development
In 2021 in a quest for customer satisfaction, we revamped our Esusu plus in response to our customers’ yearnings to have both a year-long plan as well as a two-year option. We also launched our innovative Term Assurance plan in the market, a product that has excited the market with its short-term focus and value addition. In 2022, we look forward to actively engage in customer surveys to further develop our products and increase customer satisfaction.
Adoption of Technology
Our self-service policy platform specifically for brokers as it concerns our Term Assurance product is up and running. We have also commissioned the design of a new core business application which comes with a wealth of benefits.
• We will be able to speed up our efficiency and effectiveness in terms of service delivery to you our dear partners;
• It will enhance collaboration with our stakeholders.
• It will significantly aid our digital footprints and support various remote policy buying capabilities.
We are also working on having a claims portal where all claims can be lodged from the comfort of your homes and treated in a timely manner.
Closing
In the previous year, your support and trust in us contributed immensely to what we have built and the capacity on which we stand today. I am confident that the God who has started this great work in our company will see it to perfection. He will continue to order our steps and lead us to an expected end.
I thank you for believing in us and buying into our vision. Esteemed gentlemen and ladies, another great season is upon us, we call you forth to join us as we sour even higher.
Thank you for your attention.
Long live NCRIB.
Long live African Alliance Insurance PLC.
Good Evening All.
