NAICOM promotes financial inclusion via micro-insurance
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has unveiled plans to drive financial inclusion in the country through aggressive implementation of the micro-insurance policy.
The unveiling of the financial inclusion plan took place at the opening session of the National Insurance Conference held in Abuja
The theme of conference ‘insurance industry and financial inclusion was chosen given the fact that access to financial services is concentrated in urban areas has limited the people from the rural areas from contributing maximally to growth and development of the nation’s economy.
It is therefore instructive to state that the theme of this year’s Conference was quite apt, in view of the policy direction of government towards including all segments of the society within the financial safety net.
The National Financial Inclusion Strategy was launched on October 23, 2012, and the overall target is to reduce the percentage of adult Nigerians excluded from access to financial services from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent by 2020.
But three years to the 2020 target, Nigeria is currently battling 41.6 per cent exclusion rate as revealed by the Access to Financial Services Survey conducted by Enhancing Financing Innovation and Access.
Speaking at the event, Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari said the theme of the conference clearly captured the retail end of the market, adding that this was the direction in which the insurance industry was headed.
As part of measures aimed at promoting financial inclusion, Kari stated that the commission would soon launch the Nigerian Insurance Industry Development Plan.
The plan, he noted, had financial inclusion as one of its major components.
