There have been noticeable lack of penetration of operating insurance firms in lucrative sectors like the oil and gas and aviation.
In those sectors, underwriting businesses that ought to come to local firms are often executed offshore to the detriment of the country.
This lack of business participation has irked the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, which has lamented the declining participation of local insurers in big ticket businesses.
Expressing this concern while speaking in Lagos at a directors’ conference, Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive of NAICOM, Mr Sunday Thomas, noted that more businesses are being done abroad to reinsure them, further eroding the capacity of the local market.
He said: “More businesses especially in the aviation sector and oil and gas are now being reinsured abroad.
Of more concern is the declining participation of life companies in the annuity business which is the emerging business for our industry. “These are the areas where the industry can impose itself on the economy through the control of funds for national development; unfortunately, we are missing it.”
According to Thomas, the industry must embrace technology to move forward. “The industry must invest handsomely in technology which is one of our key drivers for developing the market. Institutions should be prepared to digitalize their processes, procedures and systems in order to make their operation seamless and real time.” Thomas stated that the Commission is investing heavily in automating its processes and expects nothing less from insurance institutions.
