Insurers Urged to Develop Affordable Products

Ebere Nwoji

Insurers have been urged to design affordable insurance policies to meet the needs of Nigerians at the grassroots.

The Chairman, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Trade Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Abiodun Oladapo, who stated this, enjoined insurance operators to emulate managers of food and beverage industries in creating low cost products.

“Insurance operators can design affordable policies that would endear insurance to the public,” he stated.

Oladapo, while speaking at a forum organised by the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) in Lagos, noted that Cowbell was able to penetrate the highly competitive milk market with affordable products, adding that the initiative forced other milk producers to repackage their products so as to compete effectively.

He implored insurers to adopt similar strategy so as to put insurance in the hands of Nigerians especially those at the grassroots, adding that many businesses have collapsed because they were not insured.

He then, implored insurers to come to the aid of small business operators by crafting affordable policies and that they should also improve on insurance education as most people are yet to come to terms with the workings of insurance.

Oladapo also urged insurers to do more in the area of claims payment, adding that the public would buy insurance when they see people’s business restored through insurance mechanism having been affected by disaster.

The President, National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Iyalode Alaba Lawson, implored insurance operators to take their services to people at the informal sector, unite and work closely with their colleagues in the Organised Private Sector (OPS).