The communique issued at the Seventh Annual Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE), held on November 3rd 2022 at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The theme of the Conference was “Onboarding MSMEs into Micro Insurance and Pension Space in Nigeria,”

The conference dwelt extensively on getting Nano, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NMSMEs) to access micro, small and medium-term enterprises.

The conference participants recognized the critical roles NMSMEs play in the economy and agreed there should be more than a passing interest on the sector. This is because data show that the number of MSMEs is over 40 million in Nigeria. Data also show that MSMEs contribute about 48 percent to the National GDP and amount to about 96 percent of businesses in Nigeria and 84 percent employment rate. The participants acknowledged that most communities thrive because of MSMEs. The conference acknowledged that MSMEs is not just limited to the artisans, vulcanizers, tailors etc but it has also expanded to include the technology guys, entertainers, bloggers and others.

We have well educated people doing different kinds of business and playing in the MSMEs space. Thus, the space us so huge. The conference also acknowledged the many challenges NMSMEs face in Nigeria thus the failure of MSMEs is very high. The conference agreed that beyond access to capital they face a number of risks like little or no planning to deal with some business risks. Others are: they have unstable income flow, the key man’s risk, challenges of natural disasters, the risks of illness, accidents, fire, or the death of the business owner. Also, the old age risk or risk of retirement is very crucial. Thus, the conference said this is what appeals to the core issues of micro insurance and micro pensions. WHAT ROLE CAN THE OPERATORS PLAY? Participants agreed that business itself is a risk but there are mitigants. These mitigants include insurance, pension management, financial planning, etc. participants call on NMSMEs to take insurance, even if it’s micro insurance as the insurance provides financial compensation in the event of losses. Through insurance you also increase business efficiency, provide security and safety of the business owner and insurance make financing quite easy for the MSMEs through collateral. participants however agreed that most of the MSMEs are not aware of all these which is why the need for awareness is key. The confab called on insurance operators to have appropriate products and services that meet the peculiarities of the MSMEs because their needs and requirements are different. The predicants also tasked the operators to also train the MSMEs on how to take advantage of their products. Speaking to the digital technology revolution, the conference called on operators to deploy digital platforms to serve the needs of the current MSMEs. The conference noted that there is a lot of encouragement by the regulators and a lot is being done around inclusion.

But what happens between now when the MSMEs business is still in operation and when the owner retires? In between this time is where insurance comes in. for insurance practitioners, there is a lot to be done in that space. Thus, insurance partitioners should engage MSMEs in that space leveraging the medium and language that appeals to them to hedge the risks within that space. This is where micro-insurance can play a critical role. Micro Pension Pension operators were encouraged to woo MSMEs to come on-board the micro pensions to also help grow the economy. There was an emphasis on the fact that remittances should continue to be flexible based on the convenience of the contributor – daily, weekly and monthly options. This should encourage MSMEs to onboard as there are more benefits. Also, PFAs should be able to guide the MSMEs and help them onboard. They agreed that the micro pensions should be treated as a national emergency because of the huge players in that segment. Because in 20 or 30 years from now, when they retire and there is nothing for them to leverage on, the dependency on the government and other citizens will be huge. Imagine about 40 million Nigerians retiring.

Micro pension is the way out to solve this potential problem, The operators also agreed that they will drive the micro pension on the Four Ps of marketing – Product, Promotion, Place and Price. How do we make the micro pension product suitable and amenable? This is why the micro pension product is flexible with even insurance and mortgage opportunities depending on your terms. On promotion, we are doing quite a bit to appeal to the younger generations and the peculiarities of their businesses. In terms of place, how easy it is to access micro pensions which is leveraging technology like apps and USSDs? For Price, micro pension is quite affordable. The conference agreed that the media should assist to push the messages to the general public and educate the NMSMEs on how to benefit from both micro insurance and micro pension. Speaking on the issue of inclusiveness of the disabled, the conferees agreed that the disabled must be deliberately included. Thus, the conference agreed that a lot more should be done on inclusiveness for the physically challenged. Also, the labour laws must protect the disabled so employers must have a minimum number of disabled people they can employ.