Why insurers can't achieve N1 tr premium income this year - Soladoye

Why insurers can't achieve N1 tr premium income this year - Soladoye

Chuks Udo Okonta

The inability of insurance industry to commence implimentation of Market Developement and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) in 2009 as stated in its strategy document would deter operators from attaining the N1 trillion premium target this year, the Managing Director Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited Yemi Soladoye, has said.

He told Inspen that the N1 trillion projection was to be achieved with a four-year strategic plan, adding that there is no way the target will be achieved, with the commencement of implimentation of the initiative a year to the set deadline.

He noted that in spite the challenges, the MDRI stands as a turing point of the Nigerian Insurance Industry, adding that with the delay observed in the implimentation, there may be need for a shift in the deliverables to make-up for the lost period.

He said: "To access a project effectively, you must look at where you are coming from. The initiative is a turing point because the operators, regulator,support service providers, journalists and government realise the fact that there is something going on in the industry. "MDRI is also a turing point because it is from that stage we saw the regulator leading the market. There is a united focus for all of us. Whether you adopt it or not, we all know that there is a project on ground and there is a destination to reach and there is a direction as to the way we can go for us to secure increased penetration for insurance busness in this country. Every where in the world, implimentation has always be the challenge to achieving projects. MDRI is a case of delayed implimentation.

"Most people are reading the strategy document and not relating it to when implimentation took off. If there is a projection that in year four, we will get N1 trillion and as we could see from the paper, we were to start in 2009, we had what we are to achieve in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. So, N1 trillion is in year four which is 2012. If implimentation started in 2011, it will be a case of shifting the deliverables forward base on the difference on the ground between the strategy crafting and the implimentation. The initiative is a watershield in the history of the industry and it is also an evergreen thing."

He noted that the initiative cannot be wish away, as it has brought about many developments, adding that efforts by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to reposition the industry through micro-insurance, takafu and more are strategic plans stated in the MDRI document.

" When you read the strategy document, you would see that micro-insurance is part of the area that was recommended as where the industry will get development. Takafu is also an aspect of the initiative. As MDRI is targeted as restructuring, therefore, all the restructuring that are happening in the market are embedded within the the programme," he said.