Nigeria Re, local insurers to boost investment return

Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation has revealed plans to boost the capacity of local insurance companies for profitability and reduce capital flight in the country.

The Managing Director, Nigeria Re, Mrs Chioma Chukwuma, at a three-day training said that the programme was organised for reinsurance managers of underwriting firms in Lagos to enhance their knowledge based unlock potentials in their businesses.

According to her, “The country does not have the adequate capacity now, but what we are driving at is for local market ensure that they exhaust the local capacity we have in the market before taking the remaining risks abroad.

“Reinsurance is all about the spreading of risks, so we are not saying they should retain everything locally.” Chukwuma said that Nigeria Re partnered GIC Re, India and South Africa to organise the training.

According to her, training is one of the services Nigeria Re renders to the local underwriters in building capacity for them.

She said, “For years now we have not done trainings, so we think that the time has come for us to provide this training for the firms, which is particularly structured for reinsurance managers.”

The managing director said that there were prospects that the insurance companies would be more equipped with knowledge to do business professionally and profitably, “which will also help to build customer’s confidence.”

Chukwuma said that the National Insurance Commission introduced the local content guidelines to ensure that local capacity is exhausted because businesses are taken abroad, but that not all companies were complying with this regulation.