Stakeholders in the insurance and technology sectors have called for partnerships, collaborations, and technology adoption as critical strategies for Nigeria’s insurance penetration.
These were key points at the recently concluded Insurance Meets Tech 2022 convened by Modion Communications.
Speaking at the Insurance Meets Tech (IMT) inaugural edition conference on the role of big data and cloud computing in bolstering the operations of the Nigerian insurance sector, Ola Williams, Country Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, explained that leveraging technology increases the brand value of insurance organisations and allows insurers to free up their capital outlay to accommodate potential customers.
Also speaking at the event, Olusegun Omosehin, incoming Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), cited the irrefutable importance of collaborations and partnerships between the insurance and technology industries in operationalising a digital-led customer acquisition journey, thereby deepening insurance penetration in Nigeria.
Speaking on the functionality of technology for driving change in the Nigerian insurance ecosystem, Group Chief Executive Officer, Old Mutual West Africa, Samuel Ogbu, said: “Insurance exists to solve problems and create value, and this can be achieved through collaboration and partnerships. However, the problems with insurance value creation in Nigeria have evolved, and solutions provided by insurers in this regard must align with the fundamental evolution and revolution of strategies. Innovation technology has a key part to play in the evolution of insurance value creation, and the knowledge of revolutionary insurance strategies relies heavily on data analytics which is a key provision of technology”.
Executive Head of Sales, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Sola Ajayi, also explained that the insurance industry is enthusiastic about technological innovation. He also noted that though the sector had progressively slowed in the last two years, it would experience lots of unbundling of insurance products using technology.
At the conference, the Managing Director/CEO PaddyCover, Mayowa Owolabi, highlighted the importance of regulatory enablement in achieving technological adoptions and collaborations in the insurance industry.
He said, ‘The insurance industry requires sensible, timebound, future-centric regulation that creates an environment to thrive”.
In a keynote address, Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Kola Adeleke, who represented the Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Jubril Mobolaji Lawal, said that “the insurance sector can take a cue from the Nigerian Banking System which has gone from its analogue age to a massive digitisation phase. Ecobank, for instance, invested greatly in tech to run a multi-geography, multi-lingual, one-bank platform across our 33 affiliates which currently serves over 1.9 million people in Nigeria”.
Similarly, the Managing Director, Interswitch Systegra, Jonah Adams, said, “organisations must strategise on efficient measures by leveraging new technologies to provide financial and insurance services to the 100 million unbanked Nigerians. One great way of doing that is by providing these services in nano sizes for the retail-driven and unbanked Nigerian population. The insurance market is ready for collaborations and scaling”.
The Chief Executive Officer / Co-founder, Curacel, Henry Mascot, said during the plenary that “Insurance is a complex financial service to sell, and its digitisation is a surefire way to simplify its consumption and accessibility by consumers. A groundswell regulatory approach must also be employed to ensure that people are legally bound to get insured. As we have seen in the legal requirement of motor insurance, health insurance, and building insurance, amongst others, must also be constitutionally protected for widespread adoption amongst Nigerians”.
