Stories by David Agba
Abuja
The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has announced a partnership with the Lagos Business School (LBS) on survival measures for insurance companies in the country. The partnership, which was disclosed during an international seminar held last week in Lagos, is designed to avail insurance operators a platform to brainstorm on how to keep their operations going in the face of the prevalent economic challenges which is speculated to have a negative impact on year 2016 gross premium.
The seminar, with the theme ‘Key Economic and Strategy Imperative for the Nigerian Insurance Industry in 2016 – The way forward for Insurance Business in A Challenging Economy’, was convened to enable them brainstorm on some challenges that pose as threats to the sector particularly when viewed from the happenings on the political landscape as it affects the insurance sector of the industry.
According to the Institute, “With the planned cut in budget of most states, the Federal government planned financing of the 2016 budget with an estimate deficit portion of N2.2 trillion, the continuous downsizing and employment cut done by most firms heavily exposed to exchange rate risks in Nigeria, the insurance sector is no doubt exposed to a likely risk of decline in gross premium in 2016. “As we await the approval of the 2016 Nigerian appropriation bill, there is urgent call for a paradigm shift in the insurance industry.”
CIIN explained that the seminar was primarily initiated for insurance leaders to have the opportunity of gaining insights into expected approaches that would be required to reposition the sector in a challenging economy. Speakers at the seminar were drawn from a team of experienced faculty members of the Lagos Business School.
