NCRIB: Strategizing to enhance Insurance Brokers Growth
Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has witnessed a complete positive turn-around during the past one year as the incumbent administration took a giant stride in empowering the Secretariat for enhanced service delivery to its teeming members, EDET UDOH writes.
In its bid to enhance the growth of Insurance Broking business in Nigeria, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), the umbrella body of all registered insurance brokers in Nigeria is working out relevance strategies in this regard.
The President/Chairman, Governing Council, NCRIB, an astute administrator and insurance professional, Mr. Shola Tinubu, while giving insight of the activities/achievement of his one year administration, said that in realization of the pivotal place of the Secretariat as the engine room for successful running of the Council, the Secretariat was given greater measure of autonomy to operate.
In line with practices in related institutions, the office of the Executive Secretary was made the focal point of interaction with the public. This move has necessitated the slight changes in the office allocated to the Governing Board vis-a-vis the office of the Executive Secretary, a move that had been commended by many members of the Council.
Despite the financial challenges confronting institutions like NCRIB, the regime ensured that staff training continues unabated and staff of the Secretariat were trained alongside their areas of need and expertise to enhance their productivity. At the last Annual General Meeting of the Council, the President seized the auspicious moment to highlight some of his modest achievements in office, one year as the 19th President of the Council, some of which include:
The 10-year Strategic Plan:
In order to give the required trajectory of growth to the Council for its sustainable development, the Council on assumption of office of this administration set in motion modalities for a 10-year strategic plan for the Council. The plan which is almost at the concluding phase was exposed to members at the CEO’s Retreat, held in Uyo while it is awaiting the final approval of the Governing Board. It is heartwarming that the content of the plan was handy as input into the industry wide corporate mission being worked upon.
Manpower Development for Members:
It is most gratifying that the Council under the present leadership had accelerated tempo of training organized for Insurance Brokers for the empowerment of the operators as well as enhancement of the bottom-line for the Council. Aside from making the cost of the training bearable for members, the training modules were articulated in such a way as to figure in the training need of contemporary operators. It is most gratifying that the Council offered some of the training at no cost to the Brokers. One of such was done in collaboration with Leadway Assurance Company Limited.
The Council has organized trainings on areas of members needs such as Oil and Gas among others which the Council had recently. It is hoped that these trainings will translate into more business opportunities for members.
Enhance Information Dissemination;
Since knowledge and information sharing strengthens corporate bonding, unity and professionalism amongst operators, the present administration has seen to it that channels of communication amongst members were created and sustained. Members had continued to derive maximum benefit from the WhatsApp groups created for sharing knowledge amongst members. Also, information are now better shared through text messages and IT platforms such as Facebook Live Streaming during official engagements of the Council. The President noted recently that very soon the membership portal of the Council would be on for full time online payment and responsive online interactions between members and the Secretariat. He, however, solicited for support and positive suggestions of members and called for the sustenance of these laudable initiatives.
Corporate Visibility Project:
The idea of Corporate Visibility Project was to reposition the Council and Insurance Broking Business in the eye of the public. The Council has continued steadfastly with all the laudable projects of immediate past administration, in which the incumbent President was a member.
Specifically, the Council sustained the sponsorship of the radio programme on Radio One 103.5 FM on weekly basis while it extended the scope of coverage to Area Committee across the Country. The NCRIB jingles are aired both in English, Yoruba and Pidgin on some selected radio stations. It is quite noteworthy that within the period under review, the President has appeared on some notable radio and TV stations where he canvassed among others, the place of insurance brokers and their relevance to national economy and the need to engage them by the public for their insurance. “No one lights a candle and keeps it under a bushel,” NCRIP President said.
The Council has sustained the quarterly engagement with members of the press, instituted by the immediate past administration of Kayode Okunoren, the stride that has continued to yield positive effect. In addition to this, the Governing Board has approved production of customized Exercise Books for school pupils. In ensuring effective distribution, the Council has recently collaborated with JCI (Junior Chamber International), Victoria Island Chapter to distribute the books to pupils of public schools in the area. The gesture was greatly appreciated by the target group. It is hoped that when the remaining exercise books are produced, members will take advantage of it by purchasing copies for distribution to institutions they so wish so that the project could be sustained with the positive consequences on the image of the Council and Insurance Brokers.
Still on the image projection, the Council has also produced 20,000 flyers which were distributed across the country through Area Committees. In Lagos, professional distributors were also engaged in addition to the Council’s conventional means to distribute the flyers. The Council has also commenced production of NCRIB customized stickers that will tell much of the need to engage an Insurance Broker. NCRIB rebranded and professionally handled journal also made waves during the period under review.
NCRIB Publication of Eligible Members:
The NCRIB President at its February edition bi-monthly Members’ Evening held recently in the Council’s Secretariat in Yaba, Lagos, informed it members on their plans to publish name of eligible members in the national dailies being the stator responsibility of the Council, just as he sounded a clarion call to all members to regularize their membership on time in order to avoid fines from the regulatory authority.
“One of our statutory responsibilities every year is to publish the names of all eligible members of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers in National Dailies. I would like to inform you that the Council would definitely carry out this statutory obligation shortly. Our experience in the past have shown that many Brokers that failed to meet up with the requirements for the publication often face significant challenges in business due to the attendant negative image that non-inclusion in the list attracts. I am urging you to regularize your membership status with the Secretariat without further delay. Please do not wait for the time your NAICOM renewal is due. All NCRIB Certificates are due for renewal every 1st of January,” Tinubu said.
Intra Industry Relations:
On assumption of office, the present administration promised to foster more cohesive relationship with other arms of insurance industry. This was borne out of the fact that the industry is a composite industry, where each arm is sustained by others. Specifically, the Council has continued to advance positive collaboration with the various constituent bodies namely; the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) and Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN).
Fortunately, within this period, the three aforementioned bodies had changes of guards; the Council was well represented at all the functions. This further sent signal to them that NCRIB is ready to extend hands of collaboration to them for the betterment of the industry.
Interestingly, few days after assumption of office, the new Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association and his team visited NCRIB Secretariat to seek for more effective and better collaboration of the two arms of the industry. The Council used the opportunity, through the Association, to encourage underwriters to always see the sense in patronizing only current members of the NCRIB for credibility; the two arms have vowed to re-jig the joint NIA/NCRIB Technical Committee towards more collaboration and effectiveness. Also, the Council has identified areas of relationship between it and ILAN. This was well further underscored when the ILAN President and his team visited the Council for a Courtesy Call.
To sustain relationship with the industry’s regulator, (NAICOM), the Council under this tenure has seen to it that the interests of members are well protected. Shortly after his assumption of office, Mr. Tinubu led a team of the Council on a courtesy visit to the Commissioner for Insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari in Abuja. The outcome of the meeting was quite positive and remarkably encouraging. Among other issues discussed was the yearly renewal of members’ license, with an assurance that modalities for same were being worked on by the Commission to change this. Also, the issue of timely response to mails, both by NAICOM and Brokers to ensure that issues were resolved timely were highlighted. The team further engaged the Commission on the need to make NCRIB Certificate a mandatory prerequisite for any Broker to be licensed. Furthermore, collaboration by the two bodies in training of Brokers, particularly on regulatory compliance issues underscored the gale of recent free training organized by NAICOM for Brokers across the geographical zones. The sterling performance of the Help Desk and members of the Technical and Legal Committee was highly commendable, for assisting members and the council in terms of interceding with the Commission on their behalf to mitigate unnecessary penalties as well as their robust input into proposed laws and guidelines being contemplated by the Commission for Brokers from time to time.
International Relations:
In view of the notion that insurance is an international profession, the need for sustained collaboration with international bodies could not be underestimated. It is, therefore, heart-warming that this administration has sustained the tempo of relationship with relevant foreign bodies. For instance, the Council had an unprecedented attendance of 21 delegates (from both NCRIB and the NIA) at the 2018 British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) Conference in Manchester, UK, during which the headship of the Association also received in audience Nigerian delegation. The theme of the conference “Innovate Evolve Thrive” was so relevant and definite to the essence of the insurance industry globally. In terms of education, delegates were apprised of the need to understand the dynamics of Insurance Industry whilst the need for healthy competition was emphasised.
International Relations:
In order to continually enjoy the benefits of skills enhancement and improved performance for members, the Council said it will firm up relationship with strategic international insurance bodies, such as BIBA and the African Insurance Organisation (AIO). It is worthy to note that the Council has successfully struck an agreement with the African Insurance Organisation to reduce their membership fund payable by Brokers from $2,000 to $500 if at least fifty (50) Brokers of the Council would subscribe. Hence, the President made passionate appeal to all members to subscribe. This will enable more members of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers participate, especially, in the Organisation’s annual conference.
According to the Council, “We are not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that all the accruable benefits are enjoyed by our members. In doing this, the Council will never forget the fact that it has pledged to demand for reciprocity in its relationship with other bodies like BIBA.”
The President and his team has vowed not only go to the foreign shores to acquire knowledge, but also encourage exchange visits from such bodies to Nigeria, to give a larger percentage of itsmembers the opportunity to benefit from such resource persons and take advantage for the enhancement of their businesses.
Professional Publication:
In a bid to enhance professionalism amongst members, it is heartwarming to note that the administration of Shola Tinubu has produced and presented a seminal publication of Market Conduct & Business Practice Guidelines in form of Nuggets for Insurance Brokers. With the publication, members now have a handy information on the revised Guideline to enhance their compliance with the NAICOM regulations. Over the years, NCRIB members have suffered unprintable penalties slammed by regulatory bodies over avoidable errors. It is hoped that the tenure would sustain the tempo of producing similar publications in the New Year.
Tier Based Minimum Solvency Capital:
Although the initiative has been cancelled by NAICOM as a result of a court case instituted against it by members of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) but the leadership of the Council said it was imperative to keep members abreast of the issue.
It would be recalled that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) had announced new capital base for composite insurance firms from N5 billion to N15 billion for Tier 1 insurance companies which was to take effect from October 1, 2018. The new capitalization system tagged, “Recapitalization of insurance companies, the tier-based minimum solvency capital,” was based on risk-based supervision model in a three-tier recapitalization system, whereby firms were graded into three tiers as tier-three, tier-two and tier-one.
“As Brokers, we could not stand aloof. As a proactive Council, it is worthy of note that the Council set relevant Committees in motion to see the extent to which this new policy thrust would affect its members and guide the Council, accordingly. As the formidable link between Underwriters and Customers, members should be concerned about what becomes the fate of customers when a company is adversely affected by the policy. Flowing with this line of thought; may be seen, as naive. Thinking that all companies that have large capital (volume) rather than solvency are worthy of being patronized by clients and Brokers. These and several issues relating to the policy has continued to engage the thoughts of the leadership,” Shola Tinubu said.
As the Council takes the next stride towards another year, Mr. Tinubu hopes that members shall all continue to place the interest of the Council in premium positions in their hearts and operation. “With excellent team spirit and cooperation, NCRIB will meet its aspiration of being a model in the comity of professional bodies in Nigeria and even beyond,” he said.
State Insurance Producer (SIP) Policy
The leadership and members of the Nigeria Council were not happy when guidelines establishing the State Insurance Producer (SIP), was released by the National Insurance Commission saying the guideline is challenging the existence of broking business in Nigeria.
To this end, Insurance brokers and Transparent Protection Ltd./Gte (TPL) a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working for the promotion of insurance culture in Nigeria, resolved to challenge NAICOM on its proposed State Insurance Producer (SIP) policy.
It should be recalled that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) had in October released the guidelines for State Insurance Producer (SIP) with operational licence of the business which is expected to commence January 1, 2019 pegged at N2 million.
Leadership of NCRIB, in a bid to protect the interest of its members in conjunction with the TPL NGO served the commission a 30-day pre-action notice while the brokers have engaged the service of a legal firm to fight this course.
President, NCRIB, Shola Tinubu, while speaking at NCRIB’s December Members’ Evening in Yaba, Lagos, jettisoned the whole idea behind SIP describing it as a massive threat to broking business especially as, according to him, 70 per cent of brokers businesses come from government, an aspect that SIP is intended to serve.
In view of the situation the Council appointed a Legal firm consisting of three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to engage NAICOM on their behalf. Their efforts yielded positive result leading to the cancellation and withdrawal of the SIP policy by NAICOM.
