LAGOS, NIGERIA: Stakeholders in the insurance and technology sectors have
called for partnerships, collaborations, and technology adoption as expedited
strategies for Nigeria's insurance penetration at the Insurance Meets Tech (IMT)
inaugural edition conference.
This landmark multi-industry discourse, convened by Modion Communications on
Thursday, September 29, 2022, was headlined by over twenty industry-leading
thought-leaders from the Insurance, finance, and technology sectors from across
Africa, such as Microsoft Nigeria, Ecobank Nigeria, Old Mutual Group, Leadway
Assurance Company Limited, AXA Mansard, Curacel, ActivEdge Technologies,
MediSmarts among others. The conference also had in attendance over 300 C-Suite
executives as delegates representing multiple companies.
Speaking on the role of big data and cloud computing in bolstering the operations of
the Nigerian insurance sector, Ola Williams, Country Manager, Microsoft Nigeria,
explained that leveraging technology increases the brand value of insurance
organisations and allows insurers to free up their capital outlay to accommodate
potential customers.
"Data is a source of wealth and power, and it has become a key disruptive factor that
organisations leverage for competitive advantage. Cloud computing is also key to
organisations' insight acquisition for detailed reporting of different aspects of their
operational efficiencies. Since insurance is the transfer of risk from one entity to
another, as an insurer, data gives insight into the behaviours and preferences of
individuals and as such, supports the provision of differentiated offerings to
customers. Indeed, the limit to how we can use data is in our imagination", she said.
Also speaking at the event, Olusegun Omosehin, Incoming Chairman, Nigerian
Insurers Association (NIA), cited the irrefutable importance of collaborations and
partnerships between the insurance and technology industries in operationalising a
digital-led customer acquisition journey, thereby deepening insurance penetration in
Nigeria.
"To swiftly embark on this digital expedition, we must be willing to rethink our existing
processes, especially the customer acquisition journey. We must also remember that
this is not necessarily a race for intra-sector prominence but an opportunity to up the
ante collectively for global dominance and deepening access to insurance", he
stated in his opening address.
Speaking on the functionality of technology for driving change in the Nigerian
insurance ecosystem, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Old Mutual West Africa,
Samuel Ogbu, said: "Insurance exists to solve problems and create value, and this
can be achieved through collaboration and partnerships. However, the problems with
insurance value creation in Nigeria have evolved, and solutions provided by insurers
in this regard must align with the fundamental evolution and revolution of strategies.
Innovation technology has a key part to play in the evolution of insurance value

creation, and the knowledge of revolutionary insurance strategies relies heavily on
data analytics which is a key provision of technology".
Sola Ajayi, Executive Head of Sales, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, also
explained that the insurance industry is enthusiastic about technological innovation.
He also noted that though the sector had progressively slowed in the last two years,
it would experience lots of unbundling of insurance products using technology.
At the conference, the Managing Director/CEO PaddyCover, Mayowa Owolabi,
highlighted the importance of regulatory enablement in achieving technological
adoptions and collaborations in the insurance industry. He said, 'The insurance
industry requires sensible, timebound, future-centric regulation that creates an
environment to thrive".
In a keynote address, Kola Adeleke, Executive Director, Corporate Banking, who
represented Jubril Mobolaji Lawal, the Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, said that
"the insurance sector can take a cue from the Nigerian Banking System which has
gone from its analogue age to a massive digitisation phase. Ecobank, for instance,
invested greatly in tech to run a multi-geography, multi-lingual, one-bank platform
across our 33 affiliates which currently serves over 1.9 million people in Nigeria".
Similarly, the Managing Director, Interswitch Systegra, Jonah Adams, said,
"organisations must strategise on efficient measures by leveraging new technologies
to provide financial and insurance services to the 100 million unbanked Nigerians.
One great way of doing that is by providing these services in nano sizes for the
retail-driven and unbanked Nigerian population. The insurance market is ready for
collaborations and scaling".
The Chief Executive Officer / Co-founder, Curacel, Henry Mascot, said during the
plenary that "Insurance is a complex financial service to sell, and its digitisation is a
surefire way to simplify its consumption and accessibility by consumers. A
groundswell regulatory approach must also be employed to ensure that people are
legally bound to get insured. As we have seen in the legal requirement of motor
insurance, health insurance, and building insurance, amongst others, must also be
constitutionally protected for widespread adoption amongst Nigerians".
Chief Executive Officer, ActivEdge Technologies, George Agu, advocates that the
much-touted innovation be done in consonance with the regulatory environment.
"We must pay close attention to what regulation permits and innovate accordingly to
create value for consumers. The banking sector has been immensely bolstered by
technology. Insurance organisations have not come to appreciate or prioritise the
value of technology in the insurance space, and this situation must be addressed",
he said.
Chief Digital Officer, AXA Mansard, Bayo Adesanya, opined that the sector takes
advantage of the impressive mobile phone revolution in the country for rapid growth.
"Telephony and mobile technology are tools we have employed for a wide reach of
insurance awareness, education, and accessibility. This is key to tackling the
abysmal rate of insurance penetration in Nigeria".

The Chief Executive Officer, MediSmarts Ltd, Obinna Osuji, agrees. "Social and
religious constraints contribute largely to the low rate of health insurance penetration,
and we attempted to tackle that with digitisation. The growth of mobile telephony and
internet accessibility has also been largely important."
Odion Aleobua, the Chief Executive Officer, Modion Communications and Convener,
Insurance Meets Tech 2022, cited the huge potential of the Nigerian industry and the
capabilities of technology in catalysing its adoption and penetration rate. He also
highlighted the timeliness of the IMT 2022 conference as a continental kick-off of
collaborative insurance and tech discourses.
Sponsored by foremost insurance and tech majors – Curacel, ActivEdge
Technologies, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Old Mutual and MediSmarts,
this ground-breaking conference converged numerous industry leaders for a prolific
discourse on the immense potential of collaboratively exploring Insurtech for
continental dominance whilst changing the narrative of insurance apathy in Africa.