Ajayi reiterates role of technology as pathway for Insurance Industry growth

Chairman, Sovereign Trust Plc,  Mr. Oluseun O. Ajay

*As Sovereign Trust Plc marks 25 years of underwriting in Nigeria.

Coming on the heels of the various regulatory reforms in the Insurance Industry in recent times, the pioneer Managing Director and current Chairman of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Mr. Oluseun O. Ajayi has lend his voice to what seem an ongoing discourse about the future of insurance practice in Nigeria.

He made his views known to the media at an interactive session to mark the 25th anniversary of the Underwriting Firm recently in Lagos.

According to him, technology, and specifically, insure-tech is the way to go in driving the business of insurance in Nigeria. He said the number of Nigerians who are yet to be captured in the fray of insurance far outnumbers those that are currently enjoying one form of insurance service or the other.

In his words, “operators in the insurance market space in Nigeria are yet to take optimal advantage of the tele-density in the country both in the urban and rural areas in pushing the frontiers of their products and services to Nigerians, far and near”.

He stated that Managers of insurance business in Nigeria should consciously and deliberately invest in robust Information Technology apparatus that will assist in providing top-notch service delivery to their customers, home and abroad. He alluded to the recent statement made by the Acting Commissioner of Insurance, Dr. Sunday Thomas of NAICOM, that the Commission is working assiduously in ensuring that all processes in the practice of insurance in Nigeria will be digitalized as from this year. Mr. Ajayi noted that, the initiative is a right step in the right direction if properly monitored and implemented.

He argued that the role of technology is very crucial to the growth of the Insurance Industry in Nigeria, considering the fact, that the world is gradually becoming a global village and insurance practitioners cannot stand aloof in the equation if indeed, we are serious and concerned about the growth and development of the business. Conclusively, “the role of technology cannot be undermined if the Insurance industry is to grow beyond what it is today in a country where everyone is gradually becoming technologically-savvy both in the urban and rural areas”

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Underwriting Firm, Mr. Olaotan Soyinka summed it all succinctly, “the Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc Brand has always been a forward-looking one which is why we integrated technology at the heart of our business from the very first day we opened operations to the insuring public in 1995. We have never looked back and we do not intend to at this point where the world is gradually coming closer right in the palms of your hands.”