NAICOM Set To Launch Nigeria Insurance Industry Development Plan

CFI, Kari

°°°Approves Six Companies To Transact Bancassurance, Launches Revised Code Of Ethics

By CLEMENT NWOJI, Abuja

Given the indispensable role of insurance in economic development, the apex insurance sector regulator, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is set to launch and introduce the Nigerian Insurance Industry Development Plan (NIIDP).

The. NIIDP, apart from targeting at deepening insurance practice and growth towards contributing to nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP), it is to stimulate financial inclusion nationwide.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari, made these disclosures while speaking at the on going two-day  2018 National Insurance Conference organised under the auspices of the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) in Abuja.

Launch of Code of Ethics for Insurance Practitioners

Already, at the conference, the revised edition of “Code of ethics for Insurance practitioners in Nigeria” was launched . The revised Code from the first edition of 1991, was updated to take care of emerging trends in the industry in terms of sanctions for breaching professional conducts and ethics apart from instilling discipline on practitioners.

He noted that the choice of the Conference theme: “Insurance industry and Financial Inclusion” was apt and clearly reflects the direction the industry is headed which is the retail end of the market.

Although, the Commissioner for Insurance did not disclose the implementation timeframe for the NIIDP and when precisely it would be launched, he said that  work on it had already been concluded by KPMG and presented to insurers committee.

According to Kari, “The timing of this Conference could not have been more significant especially as we prepare to launch the Nigerian Insurance Industry Development Plan (NIIDP) which has Financial Inclusion as one of its major components. Work on the NIIDP has already been concluded with inputs from KPMG, a consulting firm who will also independently monitor its implementation to ensure each segment of the market keep to date with their assigned responsibilities.

“It may interest you to know that
the plan has been presented to the Insurers Committee, a body comprising
management of NAICOM, CEOs of insurance companies and heads of insurance trade associations and the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) to ensure every player in the industry is on the same page with us.”

On financial inclusion, he said that NAICOM  has embarked on series of measures to enhance financial inclusion in the sector.

He said: “In realization of the National Financial Inclusion target for the Insurance sector and the need to deepened insurance penetration, NAICOM did focus on two objectives namely: Insurance awareness campaign for the financially excluded;  Promoting the development of products and business models that meet
the needs of the these excluded groups.

“To this extent, the Commission launched four (4) specific products lines as a
bottom-up approach for the excluded and low income members of the society
respectively. These are: Microinsurance,  Bancassurance, Takaful insurance, and now Index Based Agricultural Insurance (IBAI)”

Further, he said NAICOM had developed and launched the Micro Insurance and Takaful Operational Guidelines, consequences of these, Insurance companies were permitted to offer the relevant products through “the window” models of operation.

Kari also indicated that the Commission had so far granted approval to six  insurance companies to transact in Bancassurance while the applications of six others are at different levels of approval..