Insurance executives in Nigeria have pledged to improve their service offerings in line with the resolutions reached at the just concluded 47th Africa Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference.
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos, the insurance executives agreed to contribute more to increased insurance penetration in the country.
Mr Babatunde Fajemirokun, Group Managing Director, AIICO Insurance Plc, said insurers must harness the potentials in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for growth and development in the Nigerian insurance market.
Fajemirokun stated that insurance companies needed to also develop new insurance products and solutions, especially in the property and casualty segment, in readiness for the systemic nature of climate induced damages.
On claims payment, Fajemirokun tasked operators to leverage on a wide range of digital ecosystems to eliminate or reduce manual interventions in claims related tasks.
“This initiative will stimulate improvements in claims processing, administration as well as fraud detection operations,” he said.
Also speaking AIICO Executive Director, Technical, Mr Adewale Kadiri, said that while some underwriters were committed to prompt claims payment and would continue to do so as long as they are in business, others not doing so must follow suit.
“The conference has added color to the need to enhance our reputation as an industry and I think prompt claims payments can assist us to achieve the desired heights.
“There are a lot of emerging risks which need insurance covers, but there is need for reinsurance support to enable insurers get required capacity and underwrite the business on a large scale,” he noted.
Similarly, Chief Executive Officer of African Alliance Insurance Plc, Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, said that digital expansion and continuous training of staff were keys the industry needed to tap into the opportunities provided at the conference.
Ojemudia noted that the world had become digital and for the industry to improve, it must be totally committed to digital expansion.
She stated that local and intentional collaborations would be critical to scaling the impact and deepening penetration of insurance in Nigeria and in the continent.
On his part, the Managing Director, Tangerine Insurance Plc, Mr Ademuyiwa Adeduro, said that claim settlement is key to the core value proposition of the industry.
Adeduro explained that insurance practitioners must key into ever evolving technology in upscaling service delivery with respect to claims management, the use of drone, robotics and artificial intelligence and electronic payment platforms.
He noted that synchronisation of enterprise resource programmes would assist the industry in better claims management, prevention of fraudulent claims and availability of data for decision making.
“It is either we innovate or we die. One thing for sure is that insurance will not die but some companies may die due to lack of innovation,” he said.
According to him, insurers must maximise the market available in cyber risk cover and technology enabled service areas by providing innovative products for them.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Royal Exchange General Insurance Limited (REGIC), Mr Benjamin Agili, urged the regulator and practitioners in the industry to continue their engagement and enforcement of market rates and compulsory insurances.
Agili said this would be achieved by leveraging on the support received by the sector from the State and Federal Government during the conference.
According to him, the relationship built must be sustained and upscaled by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the Nigeria Insurance Association (NIA), the Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and other groups within the industry.
NAN reports that the theme the 47th AIO conference which held in Lagos , Nigeria between Sept. 4 and Sept. 8, had the theme: “Rebuilding Africa’s Economy: An Insurance Perspective.”
