As part of the commission’s assistance to the government, Sunday Thomas, Commissioner of Insurance and CEO of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), disclosed that the organization was successful in rallying the insurance sector to provide at least N500 million and free life insurance coverage for frontline workers in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Thomas, the industry’s performance increased at an average rate of 13.6% between 2014 and 2022, from N282 billion to N725.2 billion in premium income. The sector’s total assets also increased at an average rate of 12% during that time, rising from a base of N827.5 billion in 2014 to N2.33 trillion in 2022.
This was revealed by the commissioner yesterday during his welcome remarks at the two-day National Insurance Conference 2023, which was held in Abuja. “Redefining Safety”—Insurance solutions for public buildings and buildings under construction—was the conference’s focus.
Thomas made a plea to the government to support the commission in getting rid of all the out-of-date rules that have rendered the insurance building codes useless for enforcement.
They claim that the commission has persisted in contacting the state government and pertinent security organizations in order to enforce the requirement for building insurance.
“In order to support the education of professionals needed by the insurance sector, the commission also provided financial assistance to tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Projects in five of these institutions have been completed, with some even being commissioned, while seven others are in various stages of completion,” he said.
He claimed that despite the sustained growth, the roadmap listed a number of obstacles that continued to impede the insurance industry’s ability to grow as desired. These obstacles included a lack of talent, a lack of public awareness, the cost of insurance, a lack of trust or confidence in insurers, bias towards certain cultures and religions, insufficient distribution channels, and lax enforcement of insurance laws, among others.
“I am happy to mention that, over the next ten years (2024–2033), the insurance industry will endeavor to carry out its transformation journey along the following strategic thrusts: enhancing the digitalization of the sector, deepening the industry’s talent pool and capabilities, promoting insurance awareness and adoption, and transitioning to a risk-based capital model.
The Group Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, delivered a paper titled “Redefining Safety: Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings and Buildings Under Construction.” He explained that the nation’s weak insurance culture has resulted in a number of fatalities and irreversible property losses due to past building collapse experiences across the nation.
It is recommended that insurance firms set aside a minimum of 5% of their profits for awareness efforts aimed at lowering the number of building collapse incidents in Nigeria. We have seen multiple building collapses in the past few years, and many innocent lives were lost last year. I’m urging stakeholders to work more closely with NAICOM to establish a comprehensive strategy to lower the number of fatalities and property loss,” the speaker said.
Elumelu proposed raising the capitalization funds of insurance brokers to N1 billion as part of efforts to lessen the sector’s challenges. He also stated that all insurance companies should be required to contribute a minimum of five percent of their earnings to the sector for a period of five years. Additionally, the capital base of life insurance should be raised to N20 billion, while that of non-life insurance to N30 billion.
Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate, promised in his remarks that the National Assembly will provide additional clarity on the necessity to alter all relevant legislation in order to lessen, if not completely eliminate, building collapse in Nigeria.
