NAICOM set to review MDRI programme

NAICOM set to review MDRI programme

Chuks Udo Okonta

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has concluded plans to review the Market Developement and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) which was designed to enhance the industry's growth, Inspen has learnt.

The Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel, who disclosed this in a telephone interview, said NAICOM will next year review the operational guidelines of the initiative to align it, for better performance.

He said the review is one of the commission's programme for the new year, but declined to give the time table for the review and release of the envisaged guidelines.

It was learnt that the need for the review, became necessary due to the failure of the industry to achieve projections envisage it the first phase, where a target of N 1 trillion premium income was to be attained.

The Managing Director Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited Yemi Soladoye, said delay in the implimentation of the initiative affected the projections set to be achieved, adding that the programme was meant to commenced in 2009, but never took-off until 2011.

He noted that to recover the lost period, there should be a shift in the deliverables to make-up for the difference between the time of the strategy crafting and implimentation.

He said the N1 trillion premium income projection for this years 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 said: "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 remarkable 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 NAICOM to reposition the industry through micro-insurance, takaful and more are strategic plans stated in the MDRI document.