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| Assistant Director of Inspectorate, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Sam Onyeka (standing) at the event |
ENHANCING ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH INSURANCE AWARENESS IN NIGERIA: THE NEW OPTION; BEING A PRESENTATION BY GODSON IBEKWE-UMELO, PROGRAMME MANAGER, TRANSPARENT PROTECTION LTD/GTE (TPL), IN A MEDIA BRIEFING ORGANIZED AT MIRAGE HOTEL ABUJA ON MONDAY, 16TH JUNE, 2014.
It is my pleasure to welcome you gentlemen of the media and our partners to this occasion of media briefing today with the theme "Enhancing economic growth through insurance awareness: The new option."
The objective of this briefing is to acquaint you with some of Transparent Protection Ltd./Gte. (TPL’s) current programmes aimed at driving insurance awareness in Nigeria, and particularly to introduce our soon to be flagged-off Micro and Small Enterprise Insurance Initiative (MASI).
Pursuant to its mandate of promoting insurance development through awareness creation and strengthening transparency in the insurance sector, TPL has initiated partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to map and build capacities of micro and small enterprises in Nigeria in the areas of micro insurance and risk management.
The outcome of the partnership is MASI which is an initiative put together as a means of addressing the unfortunate trend of low insurance awareness in the grassroots especially among the micro and small enterprises in Nigeria. The objective is to help reduce the risk profile of the relevant enterprises and have them more properly packaged for increased sustainability. The programme will cover the entire 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Gentlemen, we are alarmed and concerned that over 70 percent of micro enterprises in Nigeria do not have any form of insurance protection. A 2010 study jointly undertaken by the Small and Median Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirmed this position. There is an urgent need to mobilize this important sector through micro-insurance awareness. This will not only enhance productivity but will ensure overall economic growth.
While economic growth can potentially enhance human development, it has become increasingly important and widely understood amongst the development community that special efforts must be made to ensure poorer sections of society are able to participate in and benefit from the process.
The on-going reforms in the Nigeria insurance sector focuses on deepening insurance penetration through coordinated insurance awareness at the grassroots and strategic development of Micro-insurance.
Micro-insurance is already working and lifting many out of poverty in many climes, especially those with relative huge population like India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Micro-insurance has potential for growing the real sector in Nigeria if well coordinated. This is because the cheapest insurance policy with lowest premium rate can translate to trillions of naira by reason of large number.
Transparent Protection Ltd./Gte. (TPL) believe that the insurance sector in Nigeria has a great future and critical role to play in the economic development of Nigeria having regard to the country’s huge population advantage and many development drivers. TPL is categorical in affirming its commitment and determination to make the difference by pushing this new frontier.
Apart from the capacity building programme, TPL has deployed its information and communication platform, the Underwriter quarterly newsletter to promoting insurance awareness and financial literacy in Nigeria. Till date, over thirty thousand copies in 6 editions have been produced and circulated nationwide to stakeholders. Through the editorial pages and executive platforms, TPL has used the medium as a veritable tool for raising awareness and policy advocacy on important issues around insurance issues in Nigeria.
The last of current programmes deserving special attention and mention here is the insurance cooperative society. Recently TPL facilitated and launched an insurance cooperative society as one of the key strategies aimed at promoting insurance culture and access to micro finance among members and micro enterprises in Nigeria. This insurance platform is a unique effort at promoting financial inclusion and bringing insurance products to members and critical segment of our economy, many of whom are illiterate and uninformed requiring special protections in their relationship with the insurers.
Ladies and gentlemen, this briefing cannot conclude without a mention of the critical impact information and communication technology has and is making in the financial sector, particularly in insurance in Nigeria. It has indeed aided the growth of online civil society activities and networking. This is where one of our programmes, Making Insurance Work for Nigeria Campaign (MIW4N), comes handy.
MIW4N is an initiative for working collaboratively with partners to promote insurance development in Nigeria employing social media as its major tool to bring about transformation in the sector. The goal is to promote insurance awareness in Nigeria through popular participation and to increase insurance sector’s contribution to the GDP from 0.68% to 3% by the end of 2016.
A website has already been opened, though it is still going through development. We request members of the public and stakeholders, especially the insurance correspondents to visit and make input thereof. The website is: www.insurancecampaignnigeria.com
TPL will continue in its programme of creation of insurance awareness in Nigeria, and will also support programmes and initiatives of organizations and groups with similar objectives.
It is a fact that information technology remains one of the most convenient platforms with potential for massive micro-insurance awareness and promotion. Already a number of insurance products are being sold on-line leveraging on the facilities of some mobile telecommunication service providers (MTS) in Nigeria, like MTN, GLO and Etisalat, to mention just a few.
However, as civil society organization working in this sector, TPL is concerned about the potential unwholesome outcomes of this revolution in the absence of a proper framework for protecting the interest of policyholders. There is therefore urgent need to develop appropriate legal frameworks for protecting on-line policy holders.
We are yet to see that being done and we therefore call on the appropriate bodies to move quickly to introduce rules for online insurance and also to forge a workable strategic relationship with Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) for on-line insurance policyholders’ protection.
Gentlemen of the press, and our special invited guests, there is no doubt that microinsurance subsector and insurance generally have a future in Nigeria. It is also a fact that empowering the micro and small enterprises through microinsurance and risk management capacity building will increase productivity and economic growth. Although the insurance sector had been dormant for many decades, but there is new impetus engendered by the reforms, and efforts of key stakeholders. TPL and the media are important and strong enablers; and the insurance sector must therefore seek urgent collaboration with it.
Finally gentlemen, as we prepare to flag-off the insurance awareness programme for micro and small enterprises in Nigeria, we recognize that the task is herculean and cannot be accomplished without the support of the media.
We therefore request you to join us in this task of making insurance work for Nigeria.
Thank you.
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| Journalists at the event |
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