Firm Pledges Support for MSMEs

Sunday Ehigiator

The MD/CEO of Orange Insurance Brokers Limited (OIBL), Mrs. Janet Ibikunle has expressed the company’s commitment towards supporting micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

She said this during the inauguration of OIBL office situated at Somolu, Lagos state.

According to her, “One of our targets is to change peoples’ mentality about insurance and also protect micro, small and medium scale businesses.

“Many people have a wrong perception of the insurance industry. They probably think insurance brokers or agents are not well to do set of people, but with this milestone tower at the heart of such a densely populated area like Somolu, first, that perception would change.

“Also, according to our slogan, ‘we don’t speak grammar when there is claim’, this means that, when you have genuine claims, you are bound to have your compensation. By going through us, you pass the headache to us, then we run it fir you till you get your compensation.

“The area that we are now is in the interior. The grassroots people are here, and we are here to talk to them about the benefits of insurance, because they are actually the people that need insurance the most.”

She added: “Insurance is a value that MSMEs are yet to tap into, and that is one of the things we are here to do. We are seriously concerned about survivals of MSMEs because they are the heart of our economy in Nigeria.

“If their businesses are not protected against risks, then when incidents happen and their businesses are badly affected, they easily go out of business and that consequently affects the country’s revenue generation. So it is very important that these sets of businesses are protected and that is why Orange brokers Insurance is here.”

In his remarks, the Managing Director, LAPO MFB, Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe, said the project was aimed at further providing insurance policies to low income earners, “especially micro and small enterprises.”

According to him, “It is all about the total commitment of saying that, ‘access to finance may not be sufficient to effectively lift ordinary people out of poverty if you do not compliment it with other services such as insurance and health.

“The LAPO Group at the moment has three key institutions that deliver these services. In November 1, 2019, we commissioned medical and diagnostic center in Benin. We capitalized with close to N3 billion.”