How NAICOM can achieve results from reforms - Soladoye

How NAICOM can achieve results from reforms - Soladoye

Chuks Udo Okonta

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has been told to initiate measures on how to assist insurance operators in the area of retail marketing, skill development and product development to enable it sustain the benefits derivable from the industry's reform.

The Managing Director Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited Yemi Soladoye, who disclosed this to Inspen in an interview, said it is necessary for NAICOM having pushed all its reforms and sanctions to the market, to consentrate on how the industry can get quantitative results from all the good things it has done.

He said: "NAICOM having pushed all these reform and sanctions to the market, in the next three years, should consentrate on how the industry can get quantitative results from all the good things they have done.

"As they have brought in Market Developement and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI), they need insurance education and enlightenment to get the result and should now begin to look at it in quantitative terms. If they would need to help insurers on skill developement they should do that. If they would help them even on product developement, they should do that. If they need to assist them in providing training, they should do that, for there is huge man power shortage in the agency system. Not many people know how to run agency, so many of them do not have experience, so, if NAICOM is to help them on retail market, it will be okay.

"If they would help them on payment system, especially mobile payment, they should also do that. So, that at the end of the day, NAICOM would consentrate on things that would bring about huge volume of premium."

He noted that efforts made by the commission in recent time, would help rebuild public confidence on the industry, adding that today, the fear of NAICOM is the beginning wisdow for any underwriter in the country. He said the industry's reform is working, adding that the sector has transformed in the past four years that the commissioner for insurance Fola Daniel has been on saddle of leadership.

"Six years ago, it was not like this. Now, every body knows that NAICOM is in charge. It is not that the law is new. it is the same law. What NAICOM is implimenting is the same 2003 Act, which has been there before the commissioner came in. It is a matter of who is at the drivers seat. To me, if any body wants to run insurance business, the person must be guided by public policy.

"All over the world, insurance premium does not belong to insurance companies. It is the policy holders money, that is held in trust by the insurance companies. 99 per cent of the regulator due is the protection of the policy holder. With the step taken by the regulator, members of the public have better confidence and trust in the Nigerian Insurance industry, believing that there is an effective regulator in place. It will now turn round, to help the underwriters," he said.

He noted that the return of public confidence on insurance products and mechanism, would enable operators get more business, adding that though the reforms may be hard on the operators, they would soon be used to them and everything will be alright.