In Brief, 14 Insurance Industry Game Changers Tony Elumelu Shared With Practitioners

On Monday, October 23, 2023, Tony Elumelu addressed Insurance Practitioners and regulators at the 2023 edition of the National Insurance Conference organized by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings Group with investments in Financial Services, Power, Energy, Real Estate, Hospitality, Healthcare and Technology and Insurance, with Heirs Insurance Group, spoke as the theme Speaker at the Conference held at the the Abuja Continental Hotel from October October 22 to 24, 2023.

In brief, here are 14 out of the transformative steps Elumelu highlighted to help turn the industry around from what he described as “embarrassing less than 2% insurance penetration, in a nation of over 200 million people, struggling to survive, amidst the harshest economic realities”.

1, Our mantra going forward must be that everything under insurance should be less onerous– for our customers and for practitioners.

2, We must encourage Nationwide Insurance Awareness campaigns.

3, NAICOM should work with Insurance companies to run continuous insurance campaigns nationwide in local languages that resonate with the people.

4, We need to attract the youth of our country into the sector.

5, At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we have funded 18,500 young entrepreneurs from every country across Africa. Their pain points other than access to finance, training, and mentorship, is around a lack of adequate insurance knowledge and products that caters to their unique needs. We must be more creative if we are to serve Nigeria’s young people adequately.

6, Insurance sector practitioners must act in a way and manner that this profession is one that people aspire to become part of.

7, Insurance companies in the US and Europe can pay out claims in minutes with little human intervention.We should aim for no less!

8, We need to increase the capacity in the sector…We should increase the capital base of Insurance Companies to N20Billion for Life and N30Billion for Non-life respectively.

9, Review the dichotomy in Insurance authorisations/licences between life and non-life.

10, NAICOM should focus on substance and things that will shape the sector …more catalytic actions.

11, All insurers should mandatorily contribute 0.5% of total revenue to drive industry awareness for 5 years. NIA should administer this professionally.

12, Insurance Brokers capital base should be increased to N1Billion.

13, NAICOM should allow brilliant minds to come into the insurance sector and limit years of experience only to technical areas.

14, The Insurance Act of 2003 needs to be overhauled – I understand NAICOM is already spearheading this initiative. We need to pass the bill and ensure that the new act can drive the IMPLEMENTATION and ENFORCEMENT of Compulsory Insurance in Nigeria.

Bonus: The Chairman of pan- African financial services group, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which operates in 20 countries across Africa, the United Kingdom, France, the UAE, and is the only African bank with a commercial deposit taking presence in the United States emphasized that ” We must re-assess and eliminate the stifling policies, roadblocks, and complacency in the insurance system, to encourage innovation and provide our people with simple and accessible insurance, not as an option, but as a fundamental right to secure their future. All within a regulatory framework that serves both clients and grows our industry.”

Elumelu who is one of Africa’s leading investors and philanthropists spoke on the topic “Redefining Safety: Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings and Buildings under Construction”.