NAICOM tasks industry players on friendly policies to drive sector’s growth

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has urged industry players to develop positive perception insurance policies to drive the sector’s growth in the country.

Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, who gave the charge during the investiture of Yetunde Ilori as the 52nd President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) against the backdrop of scepticism of many Nigerians to accepting insurance policies, said such policies, which could also be referred to as People’s Perception Policies (PPP), should be fashioned in a manner that would be attractive and difficult to reject.

Omosehin said that underwriters needed to go beyond designing services and products to suit only the corporate world.

He listed some policies that could be developed as single ladies’ insurance, single men’s insurance, and lost income insurance, adding: “Women tend to want to get divorced; moreover, life is so unpredictable; this will help to compensate for the inevitable financial consequences that accompany challenges from such directions.”

The commissioner said the insurance sector’s N16 trillion total asset base target for 2030 was realisable if the industry’s potentials were well harnessed.

“Such target mandates industry stakeholders to harness all potentials that were hitherto lying fallow. There are still many risks that lack insurance for mitigation.

“Insurance players have not been able to flood the market with enough risk covers and this is a major reason researchers described the Nigerian insurance sector as grossly untapped,” he said.

Omosehin, who said that less than one per cent of Nigerian housewives had insurance coverage, even though the industry had been in existence for close to a century, also stressed the need for industry operators to shun the current trend of unhealthy competition among themselves.

The commissioner also called for inclusivity, inviting young professionals and members in the Diaspora to contribute to the industry’s growth.

Meanwhile, Ilori expressed her determination to build a robust and resilient insurance industry, aligning with the broader economic objectives of the country.

She also urged members in the Diaspora to contribute to the industry’s growth.