In a bid to enhance the acceptance of insurance in Nigeria, the President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr. Shola Tinubu, has addressed the Course 39 set of the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, where he underscored the need for government to make agricultural insurance compulsory in the country.
According to the NCRIB President, the quest by government to reflate national economy and put the nation on sustainable path of economic vibrancy has necessitated the need for government to make agricultural insurances compulsory, as a pre-condition for facilities, subsidies and other Government support.
Mr Tinubu, who applauded the progressive moves by government to diversify the economy to from oil to non-oil, averred that “in order to increase insurance penetration in a geometric proportion, there should be concentration on the Agric sector in terms of marketing the intrinsic value of the Insurance products to farmers and other Agricultural and Agro allied sectors”
Similarly, the NCRIB President highlighted the need for government to embrace insurance in its efforts to take prudent economic strides, considering the scarce resources and tight budget of government, make it less likely to easily replace assets in the event of loss.
He opined that it was time for government across the levels to transfer their risks to the insurance market and free funds for other developmental projects, noting that the time was ripe for government to issue directives to ensure that all its assets are insured through licenced Insurance Brokers, with risks premiums provided for in yearly budgets.
On payment of bidding fees by Insurance Brokers, the NCRIB President urged government to retool the procurement rules for Insurance Brokers, making it to be in tandem with similar professional bodies like Lawyers, Accountants, Architects, and other allied professionals.
Tinubu urged NIPSS to utilise its pivotal position to advice government on the crucial roles of Insurance Brokers in the insurance value chain and the growth of the insurance industry, which he noted was the linch pin of sustainable economic growth of progressive nations in the world.
Tinubu applauded NIPSS for retaining its prestige as the foremost leadership institution in the country, with attendance of top level policy makers and executors drawn from different sectors of the economy, with a view to widening their outlook and perspectives on issues and improving their conceptual capacity.
Earlier, the Acting Director-General of the Institute, Mr Jonathan Juma, advised the insurance industry to create more awareness about the value of insurance to national economy and be ingenious in creation of valued products that would meet the needs of the people.
NAIC, CBN to collaborate on CACS
Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have called for more serious engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigeria Agriculture Insurance Corporation (NAIC), to discuss operating guidelines of the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).
They say such engagement would assist to eliminate seeming ambiguities around the guidelines to facilitate better implementation of the intervention scheme.
They also called on the Nigeria Agriculture Insurance Corporation, NAIC, to move a step towards establishing enduring business relationship with banks beyond the issue of CACS.
Oriental News Nigeria reports that these are some of the considerations sought by participants at the recently organised workshops for CACS desk officers of commercial banks in Lagos and Kaduna states by NAIC.
The CBN, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) established the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme for promoting commercial agricultural enterprises in Nigeria, which is a sub–component of the Federal Governments Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (CADP).
The Fund was intended to complement other special initiatives of the CBN, in providing concessionary funding for agriculture such as the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) which is mostly for small scale farmers, Interest Draw-back scheme, Agricultural Credit Support Scheme and other similar developmental initiatives.
The scheme is financed from the proceeds of the N200 billion, three year bond raised by the Debt Management Office (DMO), and is made available to participating bank(s), to finance commercial agricultural enterprises.
The CACS is intended to fast track development of the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy by providing credit facilities to commercial agricultural enterprises at a single digit interest rate;
It is also expected to enhance national food security by increasing food supply and effecting lower agricultural produce and product prices, thereby promoting low food inflation and reduce the cost of credit in agricultural production to enable farmers exploit the potentials of the sector as well as increase output, generate employment, diversify the revenue base, increase foreign exchange earnings and provide input for the industrial sector on a sustainable basis.
A communique at the end of the exercises urged CBN not give blanket refusal on moratorium on repatriation of 2 per cent commission from the fund and should treat each case on its merit as no bank would ask for moratorium if there is no need for it.
Participants in particular requested that CBN should apart from the workshop organize another forum to further discuss the CACS guidelines in details to remove any ambiguity and also clear all the grey areas, also urged NAIC to consider extending cover to include some of the exclusions with payment of additional premium. Granting of cover to include these exclusions will be treated on case by case basis.
