CIIN seeks better budgetary impact on insurance business

The President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Mr. Fatai Lawal, has said the body is seeking ways to make the 2014 budget enhance the sector’s growth

He said this during the annual business outlook seminar of the institute in Lagos, according to a statement made available on Sunday.

“The 2014 seminar is focusing attention on the national budget, with emphasis on the fiscal and monetary policy thrusts of the Federal Government, and how these will impact on businesses during the year,” he said.

The president observed that the worsening incidence of terrorism as well as the telling effects of environmental factors on lives and property would continue to throw up new challenges for the insurance industry.

Four years ago, Lawal said the institute dedicated its international education conference to climate change and other environmental challenges, and succeeded in creating awareness on the widening scope of risk exposure and the underwriting challenges that these entailed.

During the conference, he said the institute did not foresee the magnitude of the floods in subsequent years; neither did it imagined the spate of bombings, which now characterised the country.

“I am aware of the isolated efforts of some key players in our sector to address these emerging risks. We, however, should go beyond these isolated efforts and forge stronger bonds as an industry in tackling these new challenges. These and more areas of concern must begin to agitate our minds more than ever before,” he said.

Lawal said the governing council of the institute was poised to provide platforms for knowledge sharing and for sharpening the skills of practitioners in order for them to cope with emerging challenges and explore new opportunities.

“The council is also expanding the frontiers of insurance education by supporting the teaching and learning of insurance as a course of study in both the secondary and tertiary institutions in the country,” he said.

Lawal noted that it was pertinent to reiterate the need for all hands to be on deck to ensure that the industry’s human capital continued to brace up for current and emerging challenges.

The CIIN boss said continuous professional development was not only important in itself, but was also a point-scoring exercise and a requirement for sustaining membership of many professional bodies, including the institute.

Source Punch