NAICOM targets N1.5trn premium as insurance policyholders reach 1.9m in 2020

By Zainab Iwayemi

Laments low IPR (0.72%), density (<3%)
Highlights strategies to meet premium growth projection by 2023
Targets partnership with government, stakeholders to raise bar

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has revealed that the total number of individuals with insurance policies in 2020 reached 1.03 million while that of corporate organisations totaled 891,128, bringing the total insurance policyholders in 2020 to 1.9 million. The industry regulator made this revelation at the media retreat organised by the commission for journalists in Lagos on the theme, ‘National Insurance Commission Corporate Strategic Plan 2020 to 2023: Goals, Objectives and Key Deliverables’. It put the entire insurance industry’s annual premium at N520 billion, with penetration of less than one percent, while insurance density is less than three percent. Salami Rasaaq, NAICOM’s head, corporate communications and market development, expressed concerns on the low performance of the industry. Inferring from this basis, he said that NAICOM was embarking on a market development drive that will enable it achieve N1.5 trillion annual premium income for the insurance sector as it targets 10 percent insurance penetration and 10 per cent insurance density by 2023. This novel strategy follows a failed 2009 development plan - Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) - of transforming the industry to improve industry income significantly in addition to creating jobs through the insurance agency system, fight against fake insurance institutions and enforce compulsory insurance and further extending reach in 2016 and 2020 to 24 million and 42 million respectively with focus on achieving N1 trillion gross premium written. In its effort to raise the industry’s premium from the current level of gross premium written to N1.5 trillion by 2023, Salami revealed that NAICOM will work around four strategic themes which are: increasing insurance awareness and education, partnership with stakeholders, focusing on high impact media productions, as well as social/digital transformation of the commission. Explaining that the strategies would serve as a guideline to achieving the growth projection in the next two years, he pointed out that through partnership with the government and stakeholders, the commission would improve awareness at all levels of business whilst also promoting micro-insurance and Takaful insurance by enforcing compulsory insurances across the country. Similarly, he said that the commission would launch thought leadership series as well as stakeholders’ forum and town hall meetings, whilst also building a massive media campaign to spread the gospel. “The commission intends to launch a multi-media production/campaign using both new media and traditional media, massive production and translations in local languages and deploy the media usage across the country,” he said. Abiodun Aribike, head of IT, while presenting on NAICOM’s digital transformation progress, said it is important to replace manuals with digital operation to help in saving time and also encourage innovation.

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