NAICOM to Promote Development of Insurance Products for Financial Inclusion
Ebere Nwoji
The National Insurance Commission, (NAICOM) has said it would promote the development of products and business models that would meet the needs of the financially excluded group.
Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas disclosed this at a recent seminar for insurance journalists in Lagos.
Speaking on the theme of the conference: “The Future of the Nigerian Insurance Sector in a Shifting Landscape,” Thomas said: “The Commission is promoting the development of products and business models that meet the needs of the financially excluded group while ensuring automation of the Commission’s processes with a focus on actuarial capacity development programme and risk-based supervision regime.
“Furthermore, the insurance sector plays a vital role in financial inclusion because it reduces the poverty line, assist people to manage their risk and protect them from the negative adverse effect of any unforeseeable circumstances as well as increases access to other financial services.
“In today’s modern business environment, disruption plays an integral part of any business, hence innovation being implemented by the Commission is geared towards gaining control of a specific segment of the market that has been left untapped by encouraging the introduction of products tailored to the consumers in order to grow insurance businesses.”
The NAICOM boss said the Commission was encouraged to believe in a new dawn in all facets of regulatory policies, leveraging technological innovations, and a positive paradigm shift focused and poised to meet the anticipated surge in the demand side of the economy.”
Thomas stressed that the Commission was engaging stakeholders including state governments towards ensuring the domestication of the laws to ensure compliance with compulsory insurances and improve the business of insurance in their respective states.
He raised concern about some people who held positions that were unknown to the commission in the various insurance companies, causing problems for and de-marketing the industry.
