Insurance Penetration: NSIA boss urges banks to increase access to credit facility
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NSIA Insurance Limited, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NSIA Insurance Limited, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, has urged commercial banks in Nigeria to increase access to credit facility for the average Nigerian citizen.
This, she said, will enhance their buying powers; improve their living standard and their ability to contribute to the development of the nation’s economy.
She said when the buying power of an average Nigerian citizen is strengthened; it will reflect on his decision making as well on the kind of life he lives.
Eberechukwu who made the appeal recently during an industry event in Lagos, said “Some society has single regulation for the financial services industry and so the single regulator thinks for the banking sector and insurance industry.
“In some society where penetration is higher, credit is also available and the buying power of an insurance buyer is higher because he has access to credit. But typically in Nigeria, if you want to buy a car, you have to save the money or you go to your relatives to get the money. But in developed countries of the world such as South Africa or United States of America, what you need to do is just to walk up to your bank and ask for Credit and before they give you that money, you must have insurance,” she said.
She added, “Bank should increase the credit they give to an average individual and not to give five trillion dollars to a single Nigerian company when others are deprived of such opportunity. Credit enables insurance to thrive. In the societies that buy insurance, there is credit available for the citizens.”
Ebelechukwu also enjoined insurance companies under the Nigerian Insurance Association (NIA) to think of diversifying their investment in such a way that insurance companies are able to provide credit especially now that the industry is venturing into the micro insurance segment.
According to her, “In a civilized society where micro insurance thrives, micro insurance actually bundled empowerment initiatives, so there is money for the farmers to do what they need to do, and there is insurance on the back of that. It’s not insurance that pushes out the money, it’s kind of fused together, so there is certain things that will help us to get to one trillion premium income. The sound of one trillion premium income is good for all of us but there are certain things we need to push.
NSIA Insurance boss called on insurers to use insurance platform to push the bank to do more just as she called on insurers to do more in order to strengthen the buying powers of the people “we are asking to buy insurance.”
Bank credit is an agreement between banks and borrowers where banks trust a borrower to repay funds plus interest for a loan, credit card or line of credit at a later date. It is money banks lend or have already lent to customers. Bank credit is the total borrowing capacity banks provide to borrowers.
