Amaka Obiefuna.

Oscar Onyema, The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) has challenged insurance industry operators to be innovative and be committed to activities that will improve the performance of the industry.

Speaking at the August Edition of the Insurance Committee meeting held in Lagos urged the industry to embark on aggressive awareness, noting that huge claims paid by insurance industry were not adequately reported, and therefore urged the industry to join premium board of the NSE as part of its penetration efforts.

Onyema encouraged the industry to ensure availability of analysts knowledgable in insurance, training for investment analysts by leveraging on the infrastructure/ facilities available at the NSE as a way to improve on the industry’s activity even as he urged them to set up investor Relations Managers within the insurance companies

Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu who is the Vice Chairman, Publicity and Communication Committee, Insurers Committee, while reacting to Onyemas speech during a briefing with the reporters on the outcome of the meeting, said: “He spoke about all the claims we paid, how we did not talk much about them. He also talk about insurance penetration issues. And how we can as an industry work closely with the NSE, he encourage us to be part of premium board of the NSE,

He continues: “He spoke to us strongly about what we do. Insurance industry, do a whole lot, we do a lot of business, we pay a whole lot but we don’t make noise about it as much, when the banks do, there is a lot of publicity around it. He did say that when there is an information in the market about the activity of an industry, you notice there are a lot of movements in the share activities in the stock exchange”, she said.

On his part, the Group Managing Director, Cornerstone Insurance, Ganiyu Musa while speaking assured the industry’s readiness to improve. “On fact behind the figure, because this is part of take away from Onyemas speech, it also ties to availability of analysts knowledgable in insurance, clearly, you will start now to see a lot of engagement with the insurance

industry and the stock exchange in terms of interacting with stock brokers and other stakeholders in fact there will be a lot engagements, part of it will be training for investment analysts, which he encourage us to come together as an industry, leverage on the infrastructure and facility the exchange has provided to do that.

Also reacting is the DG NIA, Yetunde Ilori, who said: “The meeting with the CEO of NSE was a nice one because it made us to know the various services that they have at our disposal. So I believe that by the time members start to leverage on that, it will do a lot more. Then you can see changes in the performance in the stocks of insurance industry. Because he mentioned something about having investor Relation Managers within the insurance companies. So by the time they discuss with the sections of the exchange that it is handling that, it going to be a lot better”,