Several factors have been blamed to be responsible for low insurance penetration in Nigeria. Lack of commitment and low budgeting for serious public awareness initiatives and advertising by practitioners, has been described as chief.
The economic downturn, religious beliefs and poor policy implementation by respective regulatory drivers were said by Mr. Charles Ajawuihe, Executive Director, Business Development and Technical, KBL InsuranceLimited to be the other factors.
He disclosed this at the firm’s Quarterly Performance Review (QPR), which recently held in Lagos, calling on practitioners to review these situations to move the industry to the next level.
In her address, the Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Ukachi Orji called for the establishment of a national insurance inclusion policy initiative, which will focus on repositioning Insurance as a viable tool for economic growth and development.
The Insurance Inclusion Initiative (III), will be an all stakeholders’ commitment to accelerate the access of the uninsured communities to affordable mainstream insurance subscription, particularly for the compulsory products with managed premium payment strategy.
She cited that Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Financial Inclusion Governance Committee in the Banks, just a few years ago, had launched a policy document, focused on accelerating financial inclusion in the country, for the industry, which is already yielding rewards for Banks in Nigeria.
“Such an initiative, which has continued to assume increasing recognition globally, can also be adapted in the Insurance Industry, for which I think every stakeholder would have something to be happy about”, Mrs. Orji opined.
Despite economic challenges and difficulties experienced, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic however, insurance companies in Nigeria had however, mustered efforts to reward investors. In 2022, the volume of business written by member companies of Nigeria Insurers Association, NIA grew to about N726.2bn, which was estimated to be an increase by 33.9 per cent, over premium income of N569.1bn recorded in 2021. KBL Insurance Limited, in its performance had grown its profit by 33 per cent.
The Chief Executive thought performance could be better, if necessary, efforts are made to raise public awareness about the importance of insurance in the society and its role in the nation’s economy and its sustainability.
Mrs. Orji however, commended Nigeria Insurers Association, (NIA) for working closely with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and other stakeholders within the financial services and technology segments for their current moves towards promoting the business of insurance, to increase its contribution to the national GDP.
KBL Insurance Limited is said to be embarking on some internal initiatives towards improving the fortunes of Insurance in Nigeria. The firm recently launched a new Enterprise Resource Planning software, ERP, called IES-Online Application. IES Online is a digital application that comes with various modules structured to help transform manual operation and processes of various aspects of the entire insurance underwriting, claims settlement, deliver certificates, deliver discharge vouchers (DVs) and insurance policy documentation to customers with speed and in record time, as never been seen in the insurance business in Nigeria.
It also noted the role technology is playing today, to make insurance, accessible to customers and member of the public.
The CEO said their processes were now faster, less cumbersome and policies are written in simple terms for every policy holder to read and be able to interpret. A research report also said to have been conducted by Data Analytics and The West African Insurance Circle published in the month of March 2023, after three years of painstaking gathering of data, organized by an East African Institute, The Alkaline Specialist Analysts, using some unusual parameters, had named KBL Insurance Limited, “a major comfort shop for the underwriting service within the territory”, among two others in the Nigeria’s Insurance Industry.
Known for its specialty in Motor Insurance, expertise in Marine Insurance, Fire and Personal Accident, among other classes of Insurance, KBL Insurance is a General Insurance Company with a young and dynamic workforce, innovative products, and excellent service delivery, driven with a robust ICT infrastructure. KBL Insurance Limited reiterated it is committed to being one of the best insurance companies in Nigeria, geared towards ensuring maximum satisfaction of all its stakeholders.
