African Alliance Grows Market Share By 23% YOY, Targets 50% Growth By Year End
Mrs. Joyce Ojemudia, MD/CEO
African Alliance Insurance Plc said it has grown its market share by 23% year on year, higher than the industry’s average of 18%, disclosing that it is focusing at a minimum of 50% growth by the end of the year.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Joyce Ojemudia disclosed this while briefing members of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Abuja Council Area at its Members’ Evening held in Abuja yesterday on the activities of the company.
On the company’s unaudited report for the second quarter of 2021, she said the firm’s Gross Premium Income rose by 66% yoy from N1.8 billion to N3.05 billion, adding that it has paid 29% more claims yoy from N2.43 billion to N3.12 billion.
She described the performance as “an obvious testament to our ongoing commitment to paying genuine claims as due.”
She said all efforts are backed by a robust reinsurance treaty with top reinsurers in the business which she said has helped “us spread our risks and also aided our capacity to take in more risks at any point in time.”
On market expansion, she told the brokers that the firm has recently opened a branch office in Abeokuta, noting that one of the firm’s strategic goals for 2021 is to grow our premium income via deliberate market expansion and identifying regions that have good prospects for life insurance.
She said, “This Abeokuta branch -and the others soon to be opened- brings us closer to realizing those goals. This further demonstrates our growing retail strength and I must quickly say this would be the first new branch the company will open in recent years. Over the next few weeks, we are opening another in Akure, Ilorin and another in the South East as soon as we conclude our feasibility. studies.”
Mrs Oyemudia also briefed the brokers on the other developments in the company including the strides so far recorded in the past one year, and the company’s plans going forward.
Product Development
As a life insurer of repute with a continuous quest for customer satisfaction, we are currently working on an array of products as demanded by the market. First, our Esusu plus is being revamped in response to our customers’ yearnings. Then we have concluded work on our innovative Term Assurance plan, a product sure to excite the market for its short term focus and value addition. These products are outcomes of a customer survey and therefore address their needs whilst ensuring viable benefits for all and sundry.
Digital Adoption
It is clear the direction every forward-thinking organization must go: increased digital footprint. We are easily one of the most active insurers across the major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and, until recently, Twitter.
In addition, we have set up a self-service policy takeup platform specifically for brokers as it concerns our Term Assurance product. Call it a do-it-yourself portal, the portal is customised for all brokers to buy end-to-end without the need for any intervention from us, the insurer. This is one of the ways we are embedding technology in the way we work just so we can achieve more quickly and do more faster.
Human Capital Development
The quality of an organisation is directly linked to the quality of its staff. For four generations of staff, African Alliance has led in producing first-class human capital across departments and business lines. In recent times, you would agree with me that our industry demands a nimble, well-informed and constantly upgraded workforce to meet the market expectations and deliver on time for the Z generation.
In order to ensure we are not left behind, we have hired an in-house Training and Development expert, someone whose years of experience across various sectors and industries has, in a short while, grown our human capital on a budget. This is in a bid to ensure we are ahead of the game in offering the best value and on time to you our respected brokers as well as our teeming customers out there. We have now incorporated a robust training and retraining schedule into our human capital management across all staff cadre. Several of these pieces of training have already been completed while a couple more are in progress. Also, we have centralised our claims system whilst restructuring the entire claims team. Now led by a versatile claims professional, the department has been adequately fortified with more staff and new processes put in place. This has given us immediate results as our claims profile suggests with faster and prompt claims payment now the order of the day.
Our ICT team has been beefed up with a Head of the department with demonstrated experience across the financial services. The impact is being felt in the area of digital adoption and we are definitely excited about the many more innovations to come in the weeks ahead from this reenergised ICT team.
Our Wins
In less than one year of this new tenure, we have recorded outstanding wins on several fronts. First, our ISO 22301 certification was renewed following an extensive audit by the global ISO audit team. We make bold to say we are one of the very few insurance firms with an ISO certified business continuity management in place. This confirms our oft-repeated affirmation that we will be with our customers for life. With this recertification, we have exhibited practical success in ensuring we remain with you for life, through thick or thin, come rain, come shine.
Within the period of our assumption of office, Champion Newspapers, one of the leading newspapers in the Nigerian media recognised us as the Insurance Company of the Decade. The recognition was bestowed on us for our resilience and boundless staying power which has become the stuff of legends. This win means a lot to us as a business because it clearly shows that our best efforts and complementary results are not unnoticed by the fourth estate of the realm. We look forward to many more of these awards, as they keep us on our toes and help us get better at what we do.
