By Ngozi Amuche
The Managing Director, Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc, Mr. Samuel Ogbodu, has commended the National Insurance Commission for increasing the capital base of various categories of players in the industry.
Ogbodu said that the proposal would not only help to consolidate the sector with provision of more buoyant opportunities for large ticket transactions, but would also position insurance companies in the country as big players, instead of serving as agents to foreign insurance underwriters.
The Sunu Assurances boss, who made the commendation over the weekend in Lagos at the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria’s Quarterly Forum, themed, “Deepening insurance penetration through effective broker engagement,” disclosed that insurance brokers would have more creative roles to play towards harnessing the benefits of the new capital base requirement, adding that the Nigerian insurance sector, if well-positioned, would take its rightful place in the country’s economy.
He said insurance companies at the end of the recapitalisation programme would be able to take up opportunities hitherto taken by foreign companies, and that NAICOM needed to implement the compulsory housing and transport insurance policies to deepen insurance penetration in the country.
He noted that NAICOM was well-positioned to drive the implementation of the compulsory housing policy, which was valued at over N1 trillion.
“If you look at some estates in Lekki, Ikoyi and Victoria Island alone, securing policies for them would amount to over N500billon, and when you consider houses across the country, it will be over N1 trillion,” Ogbodu stated.
He said the various efforts, aimed at boosting the insurance sector contribution to the Gross Domestic Product to surpass its present 0.1 per cent level would be accelerated with the implementation of the new capital base.
He was optimistic that insurance penetration in the country would surpass one per cent with proper implementation of the capital raising exercise, as players would be forced to harness new grounds.
Stressing the role of brokers in the sector, Ogbodu said the sector’s earnings were mainly due to the contributions of the brokers that stood at 80 per cent.
“Without the brokers, there won’t be insurance; they contribute about 80 per cent of the earnings. We place very high premium on brokers,” he said.
He, however, commended the efforts of brokers in the industry in strengthening insurance penetration.
“Brokers help in product development, maintenance of high vast network, enhanced negotiation, help towards risk mitigation and help clients to stay updated on policy and regulatory developments, among others,” he said.
He pointed out that both the retail brokers and commercial Insurance brokers were rightly positioned to take up the fresh challenges the new capital requirement would throw up, for the utilisation of new opportunities to expand insurance penetration in Nigeria.
He assured shareholders and stakeholders that Sunu Assurances Nigeria would surpass the new capital base of N10 billion.”Sunu is positioned to take up the new challenges, having been rightly placed to meet up with the new capital requirement of N10 billion, even as the framework for the new policy has yet to be released,” he said.
According to him, the new era will open doors for new products, reduce challenges posed by liquidity in the sector, strengthen financial inclusion and re-open new regulatory windows for regulators.
The managing director said the company, with presence in over 14 countries, combined robust product offerings and a unique technology-driven platform that proffered insurance management solutions at competitive costs to individuals and institutions.
