WAICA Governing Council Inaugurates Efekoha As 40th President Of WAICA As Davis Becomes Secretary General/ Chief Executive Officer

By LOVETH AZODO, Lagos

The Governing Council of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) has inaugurated the Group Managing Director, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Eddie Efekoha, as the 40th President of the association.

This is just as the council appointed Deputy Director, Corporate Communications, Human Resource, and Administration at the Nigerian Insurers Associationas, Mr. Davis Ebelechukwu Iyasere as new Secretary General/ Chief Executive Officer of the sub-regional body.

Efekoha was elevated to the position at the Closing Dinner of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) 50th Anniversary and Conference 2023, in Victoria Island, in Lagos.

Efekoha is a Fellow of the Nigerian and United Kingdom Institutes; Group Managing Director, Consolidated Hallmark; 49th President & Chairman of the Governing Council of CIIN between 2018-2020 and 22nd Chairman of the NIA from 2016-2018.

He is the Chairman of Hallmark HMO. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Insurance and a Masters degree in Business Administration both from the University of Lagos. Eddie has worked in reputable organizations including Hogg Robinson Nigeria, and Glanvill Enthoven & Co (Nig.) as Executive Director (Technical), Fountain Insurance Brokers Ltd as its pioneer Managing Director/Chief Executive.

He was the Vice Chairman/CEO of Consolidated Risk Insurers Plc before his current appointment as Managing Director/CEO of the holding company, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc. A Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IOD) and both the Chartered Insurance Institutes of London and Nigeria, Eddie has attended several local and international courses in both Insurance and Management. He is an alumnus of them Lagos and Harvard Business Schools, Deputy President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Chairman of the Governing Board of the College of Insurance and Financial Management, and the 22nd chairman of the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA).

Also, The Council appointed Mr. Davis Ebelechukwu Iyasere as the new Secretary General/ Chief Executive Officer of the sub-regional body.

This followed the retirement of the incumbent Secretary General/ CEO, Mr. William Coker. With this appointment, Iyasere becomes the first Nigerian to occupy the exalted position in WAICA’s 50 years of existence.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Iyasere was the Deputy Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Human Resource, and Administration at the Nigerian Insurers Association where he had a career spanning almost two decades.

Whilst in the services of the Association, he was noted for his dedication to duty, and commitment to the ideals of the Association.

He joined the Association as Corporate Affairs Manager in 2004 and rose through the ranks to his current position by a dint of hard work, strength of character, pursuit of excellence, humility, and strong intellectual capacity.

Mr. Iyasere started his career as a freelance sports journalist with Vanguard Newspapers and later with National Times Newspaper before he joined the Guardian newspapers as a sub editor in year 2000.

He later joined Sporting Champion, then Nigeria’s highest selling weekly sports newspaper from where he joined the Nigerian Insurers Association as corporate affairs manager in 2004.

He had his secondary education at Comprehensive high school Igbodo, in Ika North East local government area of Delta state and was the Senior Prefect during his time. He later proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos for a professional diploma in Journalism.

He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts from University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom state with a second-class upper division and was the president of the Faculty of Arts Students Association (FASA).

His unquenchable quest for knowledge led him to pursue a master’s degree in communication studies from Lagos State University. Not satisfied, he proceeded to university of Lagos where he obtained a second master’s degree in industrial and labour relations.

He is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in public relations in Babcock university, Ilishan, Ogun State.

He is widely travelled and belongs to many professional bodies and associations. They include: Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Advertising Practitioners Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Chartered institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), USA, and Association of Corporate Governance Professionals of Nigeria.

The West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) is the umbrella Association of Insurance and Reinsurance companies as well as brokers in Anglophone West Africa.

As Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer, he will oversee the activities of insurance institutions in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.

Mr. Iyasere will operate from the Association’s secretariat in Accra, Ghana.