No fewer than 800 delegates will participate in the 2017 National Insurance Conference (NIC) which begins on Monday in Abuja.

The Chairman, Planning Committee of the conference, Mr Shola Tinubu, made this known in an interview on Sunday.

According to Tinubu, the conference with the theme: “Nigeria Open for Business’’, will be declared open by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

The chairman said that the conference was timely in view of the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business Initiatives (EDBI).

He said that the conference was aimed at removing inhibitions to insurance business in Nigeria in order to increase the industry’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, had lamented at the 2016 conference that the under-performance of the insurance sector was depriving the country an annual 1.5 per cent increment in GDP,’’ he said.

He noted that the conference to hold at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, would be the third since the conception of the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) in 2015.

IICC is the amalgamation of all the constituent arms of the insurance industry.

It includes the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN), while the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria serves as the coordinating arm.

Tinubu said that participants would be from all the arms of insurance industry, adding that countries such as Ghana, Gambia, Togo and South Africa would be represented.

He applauded the Federal Government for policies put in place to take the economy out of recession.

“There was the dire need for a reversal of the economic trend, and the Federal Government, through the promotion and exportation of local products, is gradually leading the economy out of recession.”

“Also, worthy of commendation is the three-year Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) from 2017-2020,’’ he said.

He noted that the EDBI was spearheaded by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

According to him, Adeosu will be the Chairman of the technical session of the conference while the Commissioner for Insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari, will be the chief host.

” Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Tony Elumelu Foundation, will be discussing the theme paper with the aim of making delegates to draw from his enormous experience in the nation’s financial services sector.”

“Discussants include Dr Joseph Nanna,  Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Alhaji Kyari Bukar, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group,’’ he said.