The Nation Newspaper

Category: Insurance

  • CIIN to introduce text book in secondary schools

    The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) will soon introduce an insurance text book in secondary schools.

    At the moment, it is seeking the Federal Government’s nod for it.

    CIIN President, Mr Fatai Lawal, said this at the presentation in Lagos of books to some tertiary schools.

    The recipients are University of Lagos, Lagos State University and Lagos State Polythenic.

    According to him, the gesture is not only a commitment to the agenda of the institute, but also forms part of a series of actions geared towards accelerating the empowerment of institutions offering insurance.

    Lawal, who said promotion of insurance education, is one of the major anchor of the theme of his administration, argued that insurance awareness could only be created through education.

    He said: “Aside the production and donation of insurance textbooks to the secondary schools, we will be adopting some of the schools as models for the promotion of insurance education by providing as much support as possible to enable them deliver the subject at the best possible practice.

    “We are aware of the challenges regarding the dearth of teachers and lecturers for insurance at both secondary and tertiary levels of education in Nigeria.

    “To tackle this dilemma, the institute has initiated a campaign to encourage insurance professionals to take up teaching positions either on full time or part time basis. CIIN is also gearing up to commence refresher courses for insurance instructors in secondary schools. This is to aid non-insurance graduates like business studies teachers with the minimal skills needed to deliver insurance lectures for senior secondary examinations.”

    He said financial illiteracy was the cause of poor patronage of financial services.

    He said: “The Nigerian population has just about 3,500 professionally qualified insurance practitioners out of about 160,000,000 people. The only way we can get insurance to penetrate every nook and cranny of this country is to get more people involved as crusaders for insurance.

    “To this end, the donation of books to tertiary institutions is not only significant as a landmark commitment to our growth agenda, it also forms part of a series of actions geared at accelerating the empowerment of institutions offering insurance courses across Nigeria.”

    He added: “We have also supported accredited tertiary institutions offering insurance to enhance their capacity to offer quality education, reinforced activities at the College of Insurance and Financial Management at Asese Village on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; completion of the ongoing restructuring of the institute’s secretariat to enhance operational efficiency and effective service delivery and resuscitation of the institute’s Victoria Island Building Project.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • STI posts N1.5b profit

    SovereignTrust Insurance (STI) Plc, has posted a profit of N1.58billion in the year ended December 31, 2012. In 2011, it made N513 million.

    The firm’s Managing Director Mr Wale Onaolapo, made this known to reporters ahead of the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for next month.

    He said the gross premium rose from N6.4 billion to N7.7 billion while total assets stood at N7.1 billion at the end of the financial year as against N6.1billion recorded the previous year.

    According to him, the journey to getting the 2012 accounts of the company approved by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has been quite hectic and that the company was excited to pass the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) litmus test.

    He said the lessons learnt from the process could not be undermined just as the company is committed to operating under ethical and professional standards.

    He reiterated the company’s unwavering commitment to creating value to both shareholders and stakeholders.

    He said: “The path through the adoption of the IFRS was not without its challenges but with the perseverance and doggedness of every member of staff, we were able to overcome and succeed as a team.”

    “Amid all these, our 2012 performance is quite commendable even though we would have loved to achieve more. STI will continue to deliver on all promises made and live up to actualissing its vision of becoming the leading brand providing insurance and financial services of global standards in no distant time.’’

     

  • SA Life’s gross premium hits N2.8b

    • Records N336m profit

    STANDARD Alliance Life Assurance Limited has made a gross premium income of N2.8 billion in the year ended December 31, 2012. In the same period the previous year, it made N2.2 billion, an increase of 26 per cent.

    The firm’s Chairman, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, made this known at the 13th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

    The underwriting firm made a profit after tax of N336 million as against N246 million loss in 2011.

    It, however, paid N3 billion as claims. This includes Group Life, N1.4 billion. It, however, reported a growth of N448 million compared with N229 million in 2011.

    Emerhor said the performance in the profit level was as a result of prudent management of expenses and underwriting during the year.

    He hinted that the company plans to raise additional equity capital by next year to boost its finances.

    He noted that the financial statements were prepared in accordance with IFRS in tandem with the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB), noting that the 2012 financial statements is the first the company prepared in accordance with IFRS and IFRS 1.

    He further said the company’s financial statement had been re-prepared based on IFRS and the impact resulted to a loss of N246 million from the year ended December 31, 2011 as against the profit of N44.6 million earlier reported under Nigerian General Accepted accounting Practice (NGAAP).

    Explaining the delay in convening the AGM, he said: “Our plan is to always hold AGMs not later than July each year. Unfortunately, the introduction of the IFRS led to a lot of accounts preparation and education activities that involved the company,NAICOM, IFRS consultants and the auditors which made this year quite unique.

    ‘’This affected not just your company, but most companies in our sector.As of today,we are still ahead compared to a number of our colleagues.’’

    Recounting activities on the business operating environment in the country in the year undr review, he said the global economy continued to experience high unemployment rates, low consumer and business confidence and contraction in the growth rate of several economies.

  • Insurers set agenda for new NCRIB chief

    Operators have urged the new President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr Ayodapo Shoderu, to uplift insurance broking.

    Some underwriters said they were confident that he would sustain the tempo of activities in the industry.

    Deputy Chairman of the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), Mr Gus Wiggle, said there was hope that the achievements recorded by the council would be sustained under the Shoderu.

    He spoke during a valedictory visit of the immediate past president of the Council, Laide Osijo, to the association.

    He promised that the NIA would continue to collaborate with the Council to ensure a robust sector.

    He said he was confident in the new president considering his robust professional pedigree and integrity, adding that Shoderu is a renowned figure in the sub-sector.

    Similarly, the President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN),   Mr Fatai Lawal, was also optimistic that the industry was soon witness development.

    He described Shoderu as one of the respected professionals in the sector who has practised for over 35 years in both the country and the United Kingdom (UK).

    Shoderu identified synergy with relevant institutions as one of his major assignments.

    He said: “Since no professional body could operate in isolation,my administration will open new vista of relationship with relevant insurance institutions, both within and outside the country.

    “I like to affirm that the Council’s cordial relationship with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), and other bodies like the CIIN, ILAN and NIA is non-negotiable.”

  • ‘Kidnapping, terrorism insurance not possible now’

    The inclusion of kidnapping and terrorism insurance products, may not be possible at the moment, a former President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Sunny Adeda, has said.

    Adeda, who disclosed this in Lagos at the Almond Production Limited’s maiden Insurance Consumers’ Forum, said development of insurance products on kidnapping and terrorism was not possible in the short-run, but may be possible in the future, adding that these forms of insurance pose a major challenge for the industry.

    He said: “Kidnapping and terrorism are challenges, which the industry may tackle in the long-run, as the duo are taking new dimensions every day. The difficulty in providing insurance products on kidnapping and terrorism is due to inability to put statistics on kidnapping and terrorism together, to have an appropriate pricing to be paid as premium.

    “May be the industry can start working with the police and law enforcement agents to get statistics on kidnapping and terrorism before they can put any policy together,” he said.

    He said this could only be possible in the long-run as the challenges would not be easy to overcome in the short-run in the absence of statistics.

  • FBN Life launches six products

    • Customer base to hit 200,000

    FBN Life Assurance Limited has introduced six insurance policies directed at the medium and lower income group.

    Its Managing Director Mr Val Ojumah, who spoke at a briefing, in Lagos, said the company is using investment products through bancaassurance arrangement with First Bank Plc to build its customers base at between 100,000 and 200,000 by the middle of next year.

    The life insurance specialist said the new products are targeted at ensuring the continuity of a family living style when the breadwinner is incapacitated or gone.

    He said many people are suffering because they lost their breadwinners yet the society or government has no provision for them.

    He said the products, which has insurance plan with a premium as low as N45 per month, include Family Income Protection plan; Extended Family Support Plan; Family Shield Plan; FlexiEdu; FlexiCash Flow Plan and FlexiSave Plan.

    According to him, penetration is very low among the low and medium segment of the society, but that the the company is poised to deepen insurance penetration and change the face of the business.

    He said: “The company has over 55,000 individual policy holders and has covered over 100,000 credit life policy holders in retail business while its branch network has increased from one to 12 branches spread in across Eastern, Western and Southern part of Nigeria.

    “If we covert 20 per cent of FirstBank customer base to insurance buyers we will be sitting on the biggest customer base in the country. At present, the company has moved from zero claims payment to paying over N900million as claims in the past two years and declared profit to shareholders of the company.”

    He projected that in another five years’insurance penetration story will change by moving from 0.5 per cent to two per cent with the help of other operators.

    He further said in the next 40 days the company would conclude plans to acquire a general insurance company in the country and will continue with its renovating ability adding that the company is confident about its strategy and have no fear of any competition.

     

     

     

  • Royal Exchange chief urges school prefects on leadership

    Royal Exchange Plc has urged secondary schools’ prefects to consider leadership in their schools and in future.

    Its Group Managing Director Chike Mokwunye gave the advice at the yearly leadership conference for secondary school prefects in Lagos.

    He said there was no better time and place to discuss the topic ‘Leadership’ than now, considering the evolutional stage of the country and, most appropriately, the prefects place in schools.

    He said: “As prefects, God has placed you in the position of leadership in your various schools and I want to believe that the authorities must have seen something unique and adorable in you before selecting you as prefects.

    “At the national level, it is often said that God has blessed this country with abundant resources. All we need is to put the right leaders in place and we can begin the march towards national prosperity. All of you here represent the future of the nation. That is why we, at Royal Exchange, believe that any investment in the youth is an investment in the future greatness of our nation.

    “As prefects, your colleagues look up to you as a beacon for direction. As a leading light, each of you has been invested with a responsibility to do the right things and to point the right way for others to follow.”

    The Royal Exchange boss said the conference was one of those initiatives designed to impact in the pupils, the virtues of honesty, diligence, hard work and empathy.

    He urged the prefects to respect constituted authority, such as government and the schools management, saying it is their duty to regulate activities either in the schools or in the larger society.

    “So, I enjoin you to continue to show exemplary conducts and to uphold high ethical standards that will make you all good ambassadors of your school and the nation at large.

    “Royal Exchange Pic is Nigeria’s first insurance company, founded in 1921. After 92 years and have since diversified into providing a wide spectrum of financial services which include general and healthcare insurance, life assurance, finance and asset management as well as microfinance banking.

    “We are here to identify with your aspiration as future leaders of this great nation because we believe in the potential of youths to be the best in their chosen field of endeavour, be it sports, music, engineering or medicine,” he said.

    He praised the Lagos State Government for its investment in education, which has seen the elaborate renovation of school infrastructure and sustained human capacity building of the staff.

    It is this focus on education that has attracted our firm to support the training of pupils, Mokwunye added.

  • Shonekan advises brokers on professionalism

    • Shoderu takes over as NCRIB president

    THE former Head of the Interim National Government (ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan, has advised insurance brokers to brace to the challenges of professionalism, the industry dented image and agricultural insurance policies.

    He gave the advice at the investiture of Mr Ayodapo Shoderu as the 17th president of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) in Lagos.

    He, however, noted that the image of the industry has improved in the last decade.

    He said there was need for insurance and broking firms to think out of the box, stressing that they still lacked the capacity to underwrite some special risks.

    Shonekan, who was chairman of the occasion, urged them to expand their businesses to underwrite bigger businesses, adding that when some companies are given some special deals in oil and gas, they run abroad for help.

    He further said stakeholders in the industry need to join hands to formulate policies in agriculture, and oil and gas businesses, adding that the operators should learn from South Africans.

    He said: “Brokers are at the forefront of insurance business, and they serve as midwives for insurance business without which many underwriters would have no business to underwrite.

    “All over the world, there is rapid improvement in the image of the industry. Nigerian practitioners must avoid cutting corners in expanding their individual businesses, improve on usage of technology to transact insurance businesses and be professional.”

    He also said something must be done to increase the revenue of sector to enhance its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    While promising to assist the industry, Shonekan tasked the new president of the council to brace to the task of leading the largest body in the industry.

    The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, praised the immediate president of the council, who was its first female president, Laide Osijo. He pledged the commission’s assistance to the council.

    Meanwhile, the new NCRIB President, MrAyodapo Shoderu said his two-year tenure would focus on improving relationship with the government and its lobbying tactic, creating data system bureau and improving its image problem.

    He said others were setting up of accounting technical committees to tackle financial reporting and auditing as well as strengthening its area committees.

     

  • Microinsurance in Africa grows by 200%, says report

    More than 44 million Africansuse microinsurance products as tools to manage the risks they are exposed to, a study on the Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa last year has shown.

    The study was conducted by Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) and the Munich Re Foundation, supported by the African Development Bank, ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the Microinsurance Network in its overview of the state of the microinsurance market in Africa.

    It stated that Compared to 2008, the African microinsurance industry has grown by 200 per cent while a huge potential remains.

    The study showed that 38 million insured people are concentrated in Eastern and Southern Africa – South Africa alone accounting for 60 per cent of coverage while in Central and North Africa, the microinsurance sector remains limited.

    It said this was linked to the culturally-rooted widespread use of funeral insurance in Southern Africa. Life insurance still dominates the market, covering 34 million and leaving the huge demand for health, agriculture, accident and property covers unmet.

    In its conclusions it identified activities in Africa as testimony to major growth in microinsurance coverage in recent years, reaching 4.4 per cent of Africans as of the end of 2011.

    It further stated: “However, the extraordinary growth in life insurance in some countries should not mask the fact that over 650 million Africans live in countries where the microinsurance industry is either absent or has a coverage rate below one per cent of total population.

    “Also, growth has been overwhelmingly concentrated on life products. Life cover is important, but there is a great need to evolve beyond basic life products.”

     

     

     

  • IAIS to help identify global systemically important insurers

    A panel from the global insurance supervisors, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), has focused on the association’s recent work to help identify global systemically important insurers and develop policy measures that apply to them.

    This was made known at the just- concluded 20th Annual Conference of the IAIS which gathered more than 600 members, observers and interested parties in Chinese Taipei for two days of lively discussion.

    The annual conference provides a forum for insurance supervisors to strengthen commitments, share insights and develop new mechanisms to work together. It also provides stakeholders with insights into the on-going work of the IAIS and the future direction of insurance supervision.

    Peter Braumüller, Chair of the IAIS Executive Committee said they are glad to have been able to welcome over 600 supervisors, government officials and insurance professionals for two days of lively discussion and debate on many issues of critical importance within the insurance sector.”

    He stated that with the theme of the conference, ‘Building Sustainable Insurance Supervision in a Changing World’ panels on the ageing of populations were included.

    According to him, this is to help understand potential opportunities and challenges, this panel examined what implications the ageing of populations will have for insurance markets, pension systems and the macro-economy.

    The panel discussed how to implement most effectively the new Coordinated Implementation Framework, including an increased regional focus, and whether there are certain basic requirements that the IAIS should assist all jurisdictions to put in place.

    He said: “Panelists also discussed the A2ii’s new strategic direction and how our partnership will assist IAIS Members implement the Insurance Core Principles in a proportionate manner that creates a path toward increased access to insurance.

    “Once in place, ComFrame will allow supervisors to efficiently and effectively cooperate and coordinate by providing a basis for comparing regulatory and supervisory processes of internationally active insurance groups. As one of the IAIS’ most significant projects, focus was given to ComFrame’s status and the next steps in its development and field testing.

    Other issues discussed according to him are the impacts of global climate change and Consumer protection frameworks and guarantee funds and Consumer protection frameworks and guarantee funds..

    “Panelists discussed matters such as how to improve catastrophic risk management and enhance risk diversification through cross-border cooperation.

    This session focused on the variety of consumer protection frameworks and approaches to guarantee funds, how these funds operate in jurisdictions around the globe and the role of these frameworks and funds in the overall approach to insurance supervision and consumer protection, especially as part of effective resolution?

     

    •Culled from the Telegraph