NAICOM Urges Stakeholders To Explore all Means to Enhance Industry’s Contribution to Nation’s Economy
The Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas, has called on the insurance industry stakeholders to work together to explore all possible means to take insurance industry to a new level to enhance its contribution to the nation’s economy, adding that industry will continue to get better if only all stakeholders continue to collaborate and cooperate as professionals.
While calling on the operators to bequeath the young professionals that are eager to join insurance profession a good legacy to emulate, Thomas noted that the long-standing issues on ethical behavior in the industry can be said to have significantly improved over time.
According to him, We must all work together to explore all possible means to take insurance to a new level that will enhance our contribution to the nation’s economy.
Delivering a Keynote at the 2022 edition of the Chartered Insurance Institute Of Nigeria (CIIN)’s Professional Forum, held at Park Inn by Radisson, Abeokuta, Ogun State yesterday with the theme ““Power of the Past: A Force for the Future of the Insurance Sector in Nigeria” Thomas said the integrity of insurance business depends solely on the level of integrity we display as professionals in the business.
“The image and future of insurance business in Nigeria depends majorly on how we uphold and encourage members to adhere strictly to the observance of the industry’s codes of conduct and ethics.
“In terms of educational development, I want to believe that the institute is looking into domesticating some of the borrowed syllabus to reflect realities in our local operations and practice without compromising the international nature of insurance business.
“Since the advent of COVID19 pandemic, the way and manner in which businesses are conducted have significantly changed; with the major focus now on use of technology to ease activities. The Commission has also been working to boost access to insurance through effective deployment of technology. The Commission’s portal has been launched and effectively deployed,” he said.
Thomas who emphasized the need for adoption of technology by industry operators said “Innovation will be the key to sustenance of the industry and make insurance services seamless by leveraging technology which drives applications like Insurtech, FinTech, blockchain, data analytics, IoTs, etc.
With respect to the efforts of the Commission in the area of regulation and supervision of the market, the Commission embarked on innovative regulations, policies, guidelines and programs aimed at restructuring for the future of the Nigerian Insurance Industry.
The first phase (Module I) of the Commission’s migration from analogue to the digitalising of its core processes (execution of Project e-regulation) has been completed. At this juncture, I am pleased to bring to your notice that the NAICOM portal has been officially commissioned by the Honourable Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning. In addition the Module II (Insurance Regulatory Returns and Analysis System), a web-based software solution for submission, collation and analysis of returns has passed user acceptance test and ready to be deployed.
