Category: Insurance

Allianz Nigeria has restated its commitment to implementation of the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) across the globe, donating 28,000 euro (N11.820 million) under its Social Impact Fund to support youth employability.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Adeolu Adewumi-Zer, made this known during an interactive session with reporters in Lagos.

She said the 28,000 euro (N11.820 million) would be accessed over the next three years to provide differently-abled persons with digital skills that would enhance their ability to earn a living.

She added that SDGs recognise the importance of sustained economic growth and high levels of productivity for the creation of well-paid quality jobs, as well as resource efficiency in consumption and production.

She said the SOS Children’s Village would benefit from the fund aimed at strengthening youth development to build an interactive inclusive society.

There is the need for the insurance industry to understand climate change and the impact on insurance business, the Managing Director, Enterprise Life Assurance Company Limited, Funmilayo Omo, has said.

She spoke on the sidelines of the just-concluded 48th Annual Conference and General Assembly of African Insurance Organisation (AIO), Conference, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Insurance and Climate Change: Harnessing growth opportunities in Africa”, she said: “The earlier the industry begin to understand climate change and the impact it has on our business and how we can support all the initiatives around climate change, the better for the industry.’’

She added that climate change is a major risk that the industry needs to appreciate and begin to work at mitigating it.

She stated that Enterprise Life entered the market space last year with the aim of delivering innovative life insurance solutions that support customers’ quest for a fulfilled and quality life across key West African markets.

She said: “The insurer understands that Nigerians are resourceful and ingenious people who need to be supported with the appropriate platforms, products and services that will enable them face the future with confidence.

“Thus, our business model focuses on the needs of the customer and delivering exceptional value that gives them advantage in the pursuit and fulfilment of their aspirations. We have designed simplified and easy to understand products.”

She said they have also taken the advantage of starting at a time when technology is a big enabler for business in making distribution technology its focus.

“Our distribution process is digitalized, yet we make use of our well trained sales representatives in driving the knowledge, the understanding and we are getting people to understand what the needs specifically are, that way the insurance purchase is tailored to the exact need of the society and each individual.”

On claims payment she said:” Our claims has been manageable and  it is a unique value proposition for us. We aimed to settle claims within 24 hours of documentation and we have tried to keep it so. We believe that part of the challenges we are experiencing in the country especially with that of insurance is lack of trust. The only way which we can earn this trust is to make sure we fulfill our obligations as soon as we can, and that we are committed to, in Enterprise Life.

There appears to be a tendency for poor people in West Africa, especially Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon to be disproportionately affected by flooding, arising from climate change.

This was made known in Africa Insurance Pulse 2022 published by African Insurance Organisation tagged: “Climate change and its impact on the African insurance sector”.

According to the report, the impact of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa is characterised by a significant increase in the number of floods and other severe weather events.

The report stated that while sub-Saharan Africa’s current global share of flood events is about 20 per cent, compared to 1970 to 1979, the frequency of floods has increased more than ten-fold since the 1970s.

Over the same period, the number of people affected by floods in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 3.5 million to 28.1 million from 2010 to 2019, it stated.

The report read: “Services and industry sectors are more sensitive to extreme rainfall and floods than the agricultural sector. Also, people living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to shocks, including those caused by natural disasters such as floods and droughts.

“An empirical study conducted by the World Bank found that in Southern African and Horn of Africa countries except Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and Egypt, poor people are at high risk of flooding, although not all countries show significant results.

“In West Africa, the results show a mixed pattern, although in countries with larger rivers and delta areas, particularly Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon – there appears to be a tendency for poor people to be disproportionately affected by flooding. In some countries, the number of people at risk of flooding is projected to increase rapidly under climate change scenarios, in particular in the Horn of Africa, parts of West Africa and Egypt”.

The report further showed that countries with rapid urbanisation – like many in Africa could see major changes in their flood hazard patterns in the coming decades, independent of climate change and other changes in hazards.

“In many countries in Southern and Western Africa, the study found strong evidence that poor households are disproportionately affected by drought. Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria show that poor households are more affected by drought than average.

“In many parts of Africa, large parts of the population are subsistence farmers and highly dependent on reliable rainy seasons, which makes them more vulnerable to droughts. Climate change is likely to increase the number of people exposed to floods and droughts further, especially in West Africa”, it read.

Managing Director, Custodian Investment Plc, Wole Oshin while reacting to the impact of climate change said it has become a reality with devastating effects on people’s earnings, assets, health and employment.

He posited that due to extreme temperatures, they first witness droughts, causing severe bushfires that even threaten urbanisations, and eventually, when the rain hits, the hardened soil is unable to absorb the water, and they are affected by flooding.

As a result, he said they see rising losses in agriculture, motor, property and even some business interruption, adding that they have become more selective in their underwriting, applying stricter conditions in particular to loss-affected risks.

Group Chief Risk Officer, Leadway Assurance Company Ltd, Kikelomo Fischer also said changes in climate and weather patterns have the potential to influence extreme weather events.

One of the main concerns of insurers, according to her is to understand these changes within a growing insurance market environment.

“Catastrophe modelling technology is being developed by insurers, reinsurers, governments, capital markets and other financial institutions on a global scale.

“In Nigeria, however, the necessary fundamental data for such models is not yet available, and the market is not yet mature enough to deliver any reliable impact on insurance contracts”, she disclosed.

The growth opportunities in the African continent will largely be driven by a young and growing population with increasing utilisation of technology, President, African Insurers Association (AIO) Tope Smart, has said.

Smart made this known in his keynote tagged: The AIO at 50: A Call for African Insurance Renaissance delivered at the just concluded AIO 2022 Conference in Nairobi Kenya.

He stated that despite the additional pressures of unrelenting regulatory and insurance accounting changes, and the huge costs associated with the changes, there are also some positive developments and opportunities for growth.

He submitted that the younger generation is looking for new ways to connect and protect, bringing affordability and access to the continent.

“These market conditions and dynamics are likely to continue to give rise to Insurtechs who, through technological innovation, are able to tackle consumer awareness and resistance and address inefficiencies within the financial system for product development, distribution, and settlement,” he posited.

“Having looked at what the African insurance industry looked like yesterday, permit me share with you, what we think the industry should look like in the next 50 years. The areas we need to lay emphasis on for a better, more vibrant insurance industry. The list is not exhaustive and I’m sure the imminent panelists here will enlighten us more.

“The insurance sector can play a crucial role in financial and economic development. By reducing uncertainty and limiting the adverse effects of large losses, the sector can encourage new investments, innovation, and competition,” he said.

“The industry in Africa is undergoing a period of significant change and disruption and it is now evident that technology is playing a major role in this, with new companies and business models emerging that are challenging the existing ones”.

Smart noted that the technological advancements in information management tools and mobility have paved the way for a new era in the African insurance industry.

“Consumer behavior is ever changing, and this constantly puts pressure on insurers to adapt and innovate if they are to stay relevant. Nonetheless, the future looks bright for the African insurance industry, and it will be fascinating to see how it develops over the coming years. One way, amongst many others, in which technology is shaking up the status-quo is through the use of Blockchain.

This distributed ledger technology has the potential to provide a more robust and efficient infrastructure for the industry, improving transparency and reducing costs,” he added.

He maintained that there is an existing gap between academia and the professional world which needs to be bridged and there are many questions regarding education and training in the African insurance industry, which need to be addressed.

Given the changing needs of learners towards more flexible training regimes, coupled with the need to improve the quality of insurance education in Africa and make it Africa relevant, there is the need for changes to insurance training and capacity building systems in Africa. This underscores the need for collaboration among the various insurance training institutions across Africa towards standardization of insurance training in the continent, he said.

The African Insurance Organisation, he said is therefore called upon to play its role as the center of excellence for insurance in Africa. As key stakeholders focus on relevant training and capacity building, there will be an increase in productivity, enhanced core competencies, better skills and job performance, increased employee motivation, ownership and confidence, and greater innovation and development.

Group Managing Director Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI) Plc, Mr. Eddie Efekoha has been admitted into the executive committee of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO).

His admission, which took place on Thursday at the 48th AIO Annual conference and General Assembly in Kenya, was in recognition of his immense contribution towards the growth and development of insurance in Nigeria and on African continenSAt.

In his role, aside working with AIO Secretariat, he is expected to continue to use his rare talents and experience to deepen the penetration of insurance and address all issues on the African Insurance landscape

Efekoha has been a strong pillar in the Nigerian insurance industry, having become the President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) and the Chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA).

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI) Plc has paid N433.6 million dividends to shareholders, translating to four kobo per share in its 2021 financial year.

The firm had earlier paid N216.8 million interim dividend at two kobo per share and is expected to pay final dividend of N216.8 million amounting to 2 kobo per share as well.

The dividend, the company said, was to reward its shareholders for their commitment and loyalty to the firm.

Addressing the shareholders at its 27th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the company’s Chairman, Mr. Obinna Ekezie, said the Consolidated Hallmark Insurance generated a huge Gross Premium Written (GPW) of N10.5 billion in the year under review as against N9.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2020, translating to 7.4 percentage growth.

He stated that Profit before Tax (PBT) grew significantly by 26 per cent from N772.6 million in 2020 to N971.7 million in 2021 while Profit After Tax (PAT) grew by 17 per cent from N678 million in 2020 to N790.6million in 2021.

The insurer, he stated, created additional value during the year by growing the group’s total assets from N14.3 billion in 2020 to N15.7 billion in 2021, a growth rate of 10 per cent.

He said: “Also, despite the prevailing economic environment, investment income grew from N940 million to N1.2 billion in 2021.

“The financial year under review was again another success story by your company, despite the persisting challenges in the operating environment,” he said. The Group Managing Director/CEO, Eddie Efekoha while reacting to one of the shareholders of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) Mr. Sunny Nwosu, on the plan of the company towards recapitalisation, noted that CHI is duly and well-prepared to meet future capitalisation buoyed by the definition of new share capital in the latest Finance Act which translates to shareholders funds.

“We are financially positioned to meet recapitalisation requirement, even though the issue is inconclusive amid legal issues surrounding it. However, the good news for the company is that the share capital has been redefined as shareholders fund which is a major step for your company,” he said.

He applauded the shareholders, policyholders, brokers, staff and management as well as other stakeholders for their interest in the company, promising that CHI will continue to serve its stakeholders with sincerity.

At the meeting, the shareholders approved the reappointment of Shuaibu Abubakar Idris as an independent non-executive director of the company as well as the final dividend payment of N216.8 million, among others.

THE Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Olalere Odusote, has said the government is addressing the demand – grid supply deficit in the state, estimated at 33-43 TWh (83 per cent of total demand)- and that a solution was being considered by the government on the use of rooftop solar.

He spoke at  a workshop held by the state government, in conjunction with World Bank, on the implementation of the Distributed Photovoltaic (DPV) in the state.

The objective of the discussion was to discuss the pathways for realising the state’s ambition of achieving one gigawatt of installed PV capacity by 2030 with a proposed mix of 60 per cent commercial and industrial, 20 per cent residential and 20 per cent government owned buildings.

Odusote noted that the ministry would incorporate the feedback from the stakeholders and leverage same in developing a document to guide the project implementation.

The World Bank Acting Regional Director for Infrastructure, West and Central Africa, Ashish Khanna, stated: “There is a unique opportunity for Lagos to lead the way for solar adoption in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa by demonstrating a model for distributed PV in urban Africa that provides affordable and reliable electricity.”

The discussion centered on the financing structure, operating framework and the institutional arrangement for achieving the state’s objective.

Participants considered the government’s ambition achievable and confirmed their readiness to work with the state to realise it.

The funding for deployment of about 500MW of solar DPV in the next five years is estimated at between US$350and US$700 million. It is envisioned that this would be financed through international grants, equity, and concessionary debt with various risk mitigation instruments would be explored.

The programme will adopt two business models – developer-owned model for commercial and industrial customers and user owned model for the residential, MSME and public sector customers. To address the challenge of fragmented demand in the solar ecosystem, some aggregation mechanisms would be introduced by demand aggregators to create scale within the industry.

Technical assistance would also be provided for capacity development for stakeholders across the ecosystem as well as targeted consumer awareness campaigns to enable effective roll-out for end-users.

The event was attended by key actors across the industry value chain comprising over 70 participants, including PV developers, solar aggregators, commercial banks, development finance institutions, and Fintechs, among others.

Insurers within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub- region have settled a total of 3,442 cross-border motor third party claims in the year.

The motor third party is handled by the insurers through a combined product known as the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme.

Over 500,000,000 FCFA or N 334 million was recorded as compensation to the third party victims of road accident.

Claims worth more than N84 million has been paid to Nigerian third party victims of accidents as at last December 31.

The ECOWAS Brown Card established on May 19, 1982 for the settlement of accidents claims. It is similar to the Green Card in Europe.

The Chairman, Council of Bureaux, in ECOWAS, Mr. Ganiyu Musa, who made this known, said the Brown Card has enhanced the inflow of funds generated to serve stakeholders, especially insurance firms.

He said the operators’ funding and capacity to perform their role, harmonised motor vehicle third party liability laws and compensation regime in various states and fair and prompt payment of third party international claims arising from ECOWAS Risk involving liability for death, property damage and bodily injury, among others, incurred whether an insured vehicle is within or outside the shores of the country where the motorist resides.

“Let me reiterate that Nigeria has the largest market in the ECOWAS Space with 22-member companies. The implementation of Automatic ECOWAS Brown Card will bring on board motor insurance underwriting companies. This implies that your local insurance cover will be issued along with a Brown Card cover to insure the ECOWAS risk we are exposed to. This situation would be addressed further with the ongoing automation of the issuance of the ECOWAS Brown Cards,” Musa, who is the Nigeria National Bureau  Chairman, noted.

The Secretary-General, Nigerian National Bureau, Mrs Henrietta Anyanna, said though the Automatic Brown Card regime is yet to be adopted in Nigeria, the scheme is fulfilling its establishment and could unlock the potential of the motor insurance industry, if the resources are judiciously managed.

“Claims worth more than N84 million have been paid to Nigerian third party victims of accidents as at December 31, 2021, even in the absence of an Automatic ECOWAS Brown Card regime. Imagine what the situation will be like, after the official implementation of the Automatic Brown Card in Nigeria. The scheme is putting smiles on the faces of victims as well as transforming lives of the less privileged forever.

“Motorists have psychological freedom from fears that they may be assailed in case of accident in a country different from their country of residence. Also, motorist covered by the scheme are well treated as if the basic Insurance policy were underwritten with a company operating in the country visited by the motorist or through which he/she is transiting,” she added.

Prestige Assurance Co. Plc has generated a Gross Premium Written of N9.274 million as against N7.009 million recorded in the preceding year, representing a 32 per cent increase.

Net Premium earned during the period under review stood at N4.594 million and 32 per cent increase over the preceding period of 2020, when the company recorded N3.471 million.

While a Gross Claim of N8.341 million was incurred in 2021, that of 2020 was N4.275 million; an increase of 95 per cent.

In the same vein, the Net Claims expenses of N2.363 million incurred last year was 39 per cent higher than that of the preceding period which recorded N1.704 million.

The net claims ratio for the period under review was 51 per cent as against that of 2020 that was 49 per cent.

Also, the company’s Profit After Tax (PAT) for the preceding period was N678 million, and the sum of N688 million was recorded in the reporting period; an increase of 1.47 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Board recommended a dividend of 15k (one and half kobo) per ordinary share to be paid to shareholders.

The Acting Chairman of the company, Sir. Muftau Oyegunle, who made this known at the company’s 52nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, said the dividend payment  was in line with their desire to ensure appreciable returns to our shareholders.

Oyegunle said the company’s performance has been a consistent upward progression, despite all the challenges and turbulent economic conditions.

He stated that their results was built on a solid foundation established by focusing on responsible growth, noting that risk assets metrics evidenced their continued focus on maintaining a diversified and sound risk portfolio.

For the investment income, he said that though the interest rate in commercial paper crashed, the company’s management was proactive enough to take the advantage of other investment opportunities to generate an income on investment of N838million as against the previous income on investment in 2020 which was N662 million, resulting in increase of about 27 per cent.

He said: “Our shareholders will be receiving a total of N199 million in dividends for 2021 financial year, which is subject to appropriate withholding tax and pending approval at this AGM.

“We remain committed towards regular dividend payments to our shareholders in appreciation of their faith in the company”, he added.

AIICO Insurance Plc is committed to providing a robust annuity service as well as driving the growth of insurance, the Group Managing Director/CEO, AIICO Insurance Plc, Babatunde Fajemirokun, has said.

He spoke at the Third AIICO Annual Media Training organised for reporters in Lagos with the theme ‘Understanding annuity business.’

Fajemirokun, who was represented by the Head, Strategic Marketing and Communications, Mr. Segun Olalandu, said the company, which recently marked its 60th Anniversary, is interested in long-term businesses.

He said: “AIICO is doing everything possible to deepen annuity business to take advantage of its inherent opportunities. Despite the challenges involved in the business, we are doing everything possible to deepen it to take advantage of its inherent opportunities.

“Annuity business is a game-changer for everybody. A lot still need to be done to deepen the business in Nigeria. We are not there yet, but step by step, we will get there.”

He said the training was held for reporters to enable them have better understanding of the business to create awareness on the benefits of the product to the public.

Also, the Senior Manager, Business Development, AIICO Insurance, Victor Owotorose,  explained that annuities are insurance contracts that promise to pay you regular income immediately or in the future.