NAICOM To Deepen Insurance With Sandbox, Projects N6tr GPI 2030

By LOVETH AZODO, Lagos

The Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas has revealed that the commission will unveil its sandbox for innovative expansion of insurance reach out.

This is just as the commission projects insurance industry Gross Premium Income (GPI) to hit N6trillion by year 2030.

A sandbox in business refers to a controlled environment supervised by a regulator within which existing regulations are relaxed or removed to allow businesses to more freely experiment with new products and services

In his keynote address at the just concluded Retreat for Financial Journalist held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, he stated that the Commission is trying to open up the market across the geo-political zones by reaching out to the states where insurance penetration is perceived to be very low.

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Boss iterated that the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics figures has shown that the Insurance sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in activities in the country presently.

However, he noted that the sector is climbing the ladder urging that more effort should be put in place to achieve itspurpose “we all know that there is need for us to do much better as our potentials are huge.”

“The sector has recorded positive increase in almost all parameters and Nigerian Bureau of Statistics have rated the sector as one of the fastest growing sectors in activities.”

On the impact of COVID19 and Endsars Protest on the sector, he revealed that they have been an increase in uptake of policies due to the events.

“The importance of insurance post COVID19 and the aftermath of endSARS protest cannot be overemphasize hence, the marginal increase in the uptake of policies boosting the retail market and the annuity component. The recently released industry statistics has shown some growth in the sector”.

According to him, the Commission is trying to open up the market across the geo-political zones by reaching out to the states where insurance penetration is perceived to be very low.

“We expect the industry to respond to these efforts by bridging the supply gap and ensure they follow up on the Commission’s move to create awareness among high ranking policy makers in order to prove that the industry is ready for the booming opportunities awaiting them across the country,” He said.

Also speaking, Head, Corporate Communications & Market Development, NAICOM, ‘Rasaaq ‘Salami, in his paper entitled: ‘NAICOM’s Market Development Initiatives: The Journey so Far’ revealed that the commission has put in place structures to promote insurance as a tool for stimulating growth of other sectors and raise funds for project development at the Federal and State levels, so as to create over 250,000 new jobs.

According to him, structures would also see to improvement of insurance consumer trust and confidence in the sector, increase insurance contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 0.4 per cent to over 3.0 per cent; lower insurance gap from 94 per cent to 70 per cent and increase Industry Gross Premium Income from N630 billion in 2021 to N6.0 trillion by 2030.

“Market development is a costly affair and requires huge capital to keep going thus, funding is critical, adding that however, NAICOM will continue to work with all stakeholders to develop strategic, sustainable and implementable initiatives for deepening insurance penetration to enable optimal contribution to the Nigerian economy,” he said.