Strict regulatory enforcement can boost industry operations

Robust and solid measures taken by insurance regulators in the last couple of years may have strengthened the operational profile of the industry in Nigeria.

Industry chieftains, who gave the assessment, believe that the market should close ranks and support measures put in place by the regulators – the National Insurance Commission (NAICON), the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), and the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), to improve on the image and the performance of the sector.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Anchor Insurance Company Limited, Ademayowa Adeduro, who spoke with The Guardian on the telephone, said if all the laws made by the regulators in the sector were strictly observed by operators, they will go a long way to add value to the economy amid recession.

Similarly, if all the public buildings are to be insured by the governments at all levels, which would run into trillions yearly, it will also enhance the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of five per cent growth.

Adeduro also noted that the enforcement of the “No premium, no cover” regulation in the market, has positively enhanced the performance of insurance companies and all other shareholders in Nigeria.

According to him, the development had not only resolved the unpaid premium in the industry, but had shown us, “If we come together and speak with one voice in the market it will move the industry forward.”

The National Coordinator Emeritus, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN),Sunny Nwosu, at a 10th year anniversary of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, held in Lagos also observed that “the insurance sector has a role to play in any economy in the globe, and in the developed economies insurance industry own banks, and they are not push overs.”

This can be so in Nigeria, if operators came together as a team, and work as one united family in the interest of the industry.

According to him, the major problem in the industry is the uncooperative attitude of some sections of the public especially in the payment of appropriate premiums for covers, noting that while the banks are declaring trillion in profits yearly, the insurance industry is recording losses.

The Managing Director, Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc, Jide Orimolade, while commending the effort of the regulator, told The Guardian that the regulator meant well for the operators by putting in place the enabling policies for the industry to thrive.

However, he encouraged stakeholders to come together like a family and enforce regulatory provisions regarding insurance to unlock the potential in the sector.

Orimolade said consumer education is needed to enable the industry to reach its full prospective, saying there’s no dispute that Nigeria is well-placed for growth in majority of the sectors due to its growing population currently estimated to be 180 million, and an emerging middle class driving economic activities.