In the face of prevailing emerging and catastrophic risks ravaging many countries, insurance practitioners in Nigeria have been advised to equip themselves with adequate skills that will enable them handle such risks effectively.
The practitioners were also cautioned against risks from climatic change and endeavour to get practical underwriting knowledge on them in place of mere book knowledge.
Former president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Mrs Seyi Ifaturoti who gave the advice in an exclusive interview with THISDAY in Lagos said this has become necessary in view of the increasing trend of these catastrophic risks in different countries including Nigeria.
Ifaturoti who was former Managing Director Crystalife Assurance said Nigerian underwriters have need to pay attention to the emerging risk because of Nigeria’s new position as climatic risk prone country.
She said over the years, Nigerian insurers have been less concerned about these emerging risks because they felt that such climatic change related risks like hurricane which is prevalent in America, wild fire, flooding prevalent in Australia, among others were remote to Nigeria.
According to her, contrary to this, the 2012 flooding experience and other climatic factors affecting normal life in Nigeria is a sign that the country may be in for more serious climate related risks in the nearest future.
She said the chances of occurrence of such risks is very high, therefore insurers should start on time to equip themselves with necessary skills required to handle such risks.
"Those risks are there because the world’s climate is changing all over the world even here in Nigeria the climate is changing. The times are changing so things happen we are even blessed in this part of the world and when those risks happen they are catastrophic. they sweep off everything, even there are some parts of the world where it is worst’’, she observed.
According to her, the only thing is that some of the risks are territorial but the world itself is changing.
"Things that were not known to happen in some parts of the world are now happening, insurance practitioners themselves have to beware of these risks. They need to equip themselves with knowledge on how to handle these emerging risks’’, she said .
Suggesting the way forward for the insurers , the former CIIN boss stated: "They need more education on these new areas where they have not been underwriting because such areas are technical. You can’t just underwrite what you are not used to. A lot of people have not been or lived in areas where these emerging risks occur. Their knowledge of it is just book knowledge. practical underwriting knowledge of them is not there."
" I guess some of these international conferences where some of those things have happened will give them opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and how they have been able to insure the risks, such things are discussed practically and will help them’’, she added.
The 2012 flood that ravaged the country, resulted in the loss of about 400 lives in different parts of the country, while over 21,000 Nigerians lost their homes. Farm lands were washed away with their growing crops while animals lost their lives.
Recent reports said some of the victims are still living in public places like primary schools and refugee camps built for them by government. This is a signal that Nigeria has made the list of climatic change risk prone countries.
Ifaturoti who now plays in the oil and gas subsector as the Managing Director Crystal Project Management also advised insurance operators to be more versatile in their product offering and emulate banking industry operators in attaching a lot of other services to insurance services in order to attract patronage.
"Insurance should do the same. For instance, they can attach to their services products that can give people opportunity to own houses.
"They can design products that can at the end give people a lump sum that can stand as counter indemnity towards borrowing to own a house.
"They can even come up with housing scheme wherein the houses are built, when people contribute up to 20 percent, arrange for some other people to provide a loan, since the house is standing as a collateral, 20 percent is available as counter indemnity, then it is relatively secured for a loan to be granted upon it so that people could have a house to own on their own’’, she stressed.
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