Infrastructural development aids insurance growth – Tope Smart
From left: Prof. Akpan Ekpo, Director-General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management; Engr. Edoyemi Ogoh, Head, Interconnect and Network Monitoring/Quality of Service Unit, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman, Open Media Group/former Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC; Prince Cookey, Publisher/CEO of Business Journal; Mr. Tope Smart, Group Managing Director/CEO, NEM Insurance Plc and Chidi Izuwah, Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, at the Business Journal 10th anniversary lecture and awards on “Infrastructure and Economic Growth: Exploring The Strategic Alliance” in Lagos recently.
Infrastructural development is pivotal to insurance growth, even as insurance remains the backbone of any economy due to the basic role it plays which is to restore people, firm, government to the position they were before the occurrence of an insured peril.
The Group Managing Director, NEM Insurance Plc, Mr. Tope Smart, who stated this at the Business Journal’s 10th Anniversary Lecture & Awards in Ikeja, Lagos, over the weekend, said, research has equally shown that there is a linkage between insurance, infrastructure and economic growth. Investment in infrastructure, according to him, leads to good quality of life, which automatically leads to improvement in mortality rate and consequently reduce death claims under life insurance.
Moreover, he said, good roads will reduce the number of accidents, thereby, leading to reduction in claim on motor insurance, goods in transit Insurance and group personal accident insurance, among other, adding that, this will ultimately lead to a better, stronger and a healthier insurance industry.
“In addition, availability of data helps in the generation and preparation of good statistics that are useful in Preparing rate guide for insurance. Good infrastructure will ensure this,” he stressed.
Saying it is very obvious that investment in infrastructure will result in the growth of the economy of any nation, he added that, the attendant insurance needs resulting from such economic growth will be to the benefit of the insurance industry.
To him, ‘for a consideration (premium) insurance ensures the continuity of an enterprise notwithstanding the occurrence of an unforeseen event.’
On his part, the Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Engr. Chidi Izuwah, said, fixing the infrastructural deficit of the country requires a huge fund which the country does not have at the moment, but if there is a right environment that allows for Public Private Partnership(PPP), where the private sector generates the fund, this challenge could be jointly addressed.
Currently, he said, insurance and pension funds are invested in FGN Securities, but that it will make more economic impact, if such funds can be channeled to fixing the country’s infrastructure, although, that will require having the right recovery mechanism that will allow the funding partners recoup their investments.
Earlier, the Publisher, Business Journal Magazine thanked God for clocking 10 years since its inception, stating that, though the road was not all smooth, but that the medium whither the storm to be a force to reckon with in business and financial journalism.
Going forward, he said, the magazine has developed a Strategic Plan of Action, to add more values to its readers and advertisers through strategic digital channel expansion, corporate partnerships and tailor-made editorial content.
Islamic clergy charges insurance operators on transparency, accountability
Operators in insurance industry have been charged to imbibe transparency and accountability in the discharge of their respective civic duties.
The Chief Imam, Magodo Central Mosque! Abdul Semi’ Olatunji Alkhelany, said this at the 2018 Ramadan Tafsir Lecture organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, adding that the business of insurance, which is trust, demands that operators in the insurance landscape must be transparent and truthful in the kind of services they offer to their respective clients.
He said, a policyholder must be fully aware of the product he is buying, its benefits, the risk it covers and so on, stating that, by doing so, the industry would have shown transparency in its product delivery.
Moreover, he said, abroad, insurance is a part of social structure but that, it is not so in Nigeria, urging the insurance industry to work on its image and increases education and awareness on insurance products and services.
Stating that most companies that are now moribund, collapsed because of breach of transparency and accountability in business management, he pointed out, that any company that does not imbibe these two elements, will not survive the test of time.
He applauded the insurance industry to have come up with Takaful products which address the needs of the Muslims, urging Islamic faithful to subscribe to these Islamic insurance products, as its benefits is immeasurable.
He was unhappy that takaful insurance scheme meant for Muslims is even witnessing more patronage from non-muslims, urging Islamic clerics to educate their followers in mosques on the need to subscribe to this insurance scheme.
The Director General, CIIN, Olutayo Bororkini, who represented the President of the Institute, Funmi Babington-Ashaye, said, the Ramadan lecture is a yearly event meant to bring together Muslims in insurance industry to listen to sermon in the month of Ramadan and pray for the industry and the nation. Stating that the programme, now in its sixth edition, commenced in 2013, he added that the programme has been a forum to unite Muslim brothers in insurance industry to discuss topical issue on how best to live a worthy life as an individual and as an industry.
The Chairman of the Occassion, Alhaji Kola Ahmed, who was also the former Director General of CIIN, urged Insurance Companies and broking fraternity to increase awareness on the programme, to increase participation to the yearly event.
Culled from: www.inspenonline.com
