Strategic growth: Brokers urge to Synergise with Banks
A call has been made for more synergy between the insurance industry and the banking sector particularly in the area of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs) for the growth of the insurance industry in particular and the nation’s economy in general.
The synergy has become necessary in view of the need for the industry to capitalize on the nation’s increasing population which is currently put at 203 million with a total of 37 SMSE according to recent reports from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
In a parley between the Lagos Area Committee of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and the SMSE team of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc at the NCRIB Secretariat, Yaba Lagos recently, the banking team, led by Chairman, FCMB SMSE Advisory Committee, Mr. Oloyemi Fatai, highlighted the key enablers which the insurance brokers could leverage on as capacity development, access to credit, access to collateral, infrastructure and access to market which are presently being explore by the bank.
Opportunities for insurance, according to Mr Rutai, include the Central Bank of Nigeria’s national collateral registry movable assets, increasing funding scheme for SMSE.
Others are Credit Risk Insurance product which is risk sharing for local insurance players as well as need for innovative insurance products tailored to specific emerging sectors.
Agriculture business, renewable energy in addition to traditional sectors, such as oil and gas, marine, transport and housing, he said, are other areas the insurance industry could take advantage of to grow its bottom-line.
Speaking at the event, the NCRIB Lagos Area Committee Chairperson, Mrs. Bukole Ifemade, also underscored the place of insurance brokers in the nation’s economic growth.
She said the statistics of Nigeria’s Gross Insurance Premium iput at over N400 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2018, out of which, according to her, 80 per cent came through Insurance Brokers.
