Amaka Obiefuna

The Insurance Industry Consultative Council ‘s 2018 National Insurance Conference (NIC) will be declared open by His Excellency, Pro. Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President, NIC Planning Committee say.

Mr. Femi Hassan, the NIC Planning Committee Chairman, who made the disclosure at a media parley in Lagos, also said that the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun will give a Keynote address, while the Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari will be the Chief Host.

This edition of the conference is the fourth in the series to be held since its conception by the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) which is the umbrella organization for all insurance institutions in Nigeria. It is made up of the regulatory body for all insurance practice in Nigeria, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM); The professional body for insurance practitioners, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN); The three trade associations: for underwriters, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA); brokers, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB); and loss adjusters, Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN).

Hassan explained the IICC was inaugurated in 2013 and has been the unifying voice and point of reference for everything insurance in Nigeria, adding that The National Insurance Conference is one of those established channels aimed at fostering intellectual and professional development of insurance practitioners and further creating a platform for networking and exchange of ideas between industry operators and critical stakeholders in the nation’s economy.

“It is most heartwarming that the 2018 Conference is being organized to further underscore the commitment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry to continually upscale the knowledge of insurance operators, other professionals in the financial services sector as well as other stakeholders; about contemporary dynamics in the economic development of the country.

The Conference would also highlight the enabling roles of the insurance industry in achieving financial inclusion and by so doing, accelerate its contributions to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

The fact that access to financial services is concentrated in urban areas has limited the people from the rural areas from contributing maximally to growth and development of the nation’s economy. It is therefore instructive to state that the theme of this year’s Conference: INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION is quite apt, in view of the policy direction of government towards including all segments of the society within the financial safety net.” He said.

Hassan noted that about 39.7 per cent or 34.9 million adult Nigerians were excluded from financial services as at 2012, according to a survey by the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), therefore the CBN on behalf of the Federal Government launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in 2012 to focus on interventions that will increase access to: payments, savings, credit, remittances, pension, insurance; under affordable terms and conditions.

“The overall aim is to empower people, promote savings, increase the level of investment by diverse economic groups, catalyse increased productivity, improve income, reduce poverty and also promote a sound, safe, vibrant and stable financial system.

The Strategy recognizes various stakeholders and apportioned roles and responsibilities to them on the basis of their comparative advantage.”

Speaking further he said successful financial inclusion implementation would make insurance services accessible at affordable costs to all individuals and businesses irrespective of net worth and size respectively, explaining that financial inclusion strives to address and proffer solutions to the constraints that exclude people from participating in the financial sector.

Hassan said that the financial sector in general; is continuously coming up with new and seamless ways to provide services to the global population. The increase in use of technology in the financial industry seems to have filled the void of inaccessibility to financial services.

According to him, The advent of tech companies has created a way for all entities to have access to all financial tools and services at reasonable costs. Examples of developments that have increasingly been embraced by financial users include crowd funding, robo-advisors, digital payments, peer-to-peer (P2P) or social lending, and insurance telematics. While these innovative services have disrupted the financial world by including more participants in the money sector, there is still an untapped portion of the world population that remains unbanked or underbanked, uninsured or underinsured.

It is therefore noteworthy that the selection of the Conference theme is fitting into the Insurance Industry Consultative Council’s plans in deepening reforms, completing and implementing pending initiatives, engaging with the public and validating completed reforms that would kick off medium term reforms, he added.

The conference is billed to take place between 8th – 10th of July, 2018 at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, and will parade an array of highly resourceful speakers to do justice to the subject of discourse, adding that the Founder/Chairman, Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, MFR, CON, will discuss the theme paper.

Hassan posited that the sub theme: “Leveraging Technology for Financial Inclusion” would be most rewarding, adding that aside the enrichment that would be brought on the subject by the Managing Director of SystemSpecs Limited, John Obaro, Dr. Segun Aina, Chairman of Fintech Associates will Chair the session.

“In a bid to give the insurance industry its desired space in the conference, the theme: “Road Map For The Insurance Industry” is also being slated for presentation by George Onekhena, Deputy Commissioner for Finance & Administration, National Insurance Commission, with support from the President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Mrs. Funmi Babington-Ashaye, the In-coming Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr. Tope Smart, President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr. Shola Tinubu and President, Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria, Alhaji Femi Hassan. The paper would be chaired by Mrs. Bisi Lamikanra, of KPMG,” he said.

He said there would also be Breakout Session, where issues of the moment; such as Block Chain Disruption to the Insurance Industry, Artificial Intelligence and Personal Financial Health Plan as a means to Enhancing Financial Inclusion in Insurance Industry would be discussed, stressing that the topics which would be anchored by specialists in these areas would provide participants the opportunity to learn about the challenges posed and emerging opportunities in these fields.