The Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu has suggested ways of leveraging on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to grow the potentials of the Nigerian insurance industry which he said has not been fully harnessed.
The Minister said this while delivering a keynote address titled, ‘Driving Insurance Penetration with Information and Communication Technology’ he delivered at the e-Insurance Conference organised by Pinet Informatics Ltd in Lagos recently.
He noted that the nation’s insurance sector, which provides support to the financial institutions has not been fully explored, saying ”the Insurance sector despite being a major driver of business growth that provides a critical support system to the financial market has not fared well given the current size of the Nigerian economy and population”.
In his submission, Shittu argued that “Information available to me indicates that there are less than 1.5 million insurance policyholders, representing a paltry 0.9% of a population of well over 170 million citizens”.
“Similarly, the gross premium of the sector is said to be less than 500 billion naira, implying that the sector contributes less than 1% to national GDP.
“Expressing confidence in the performance of the ICT sector as the fourth pillar of the Nigerian economy and a sector that recorded positive growth in 2016 in spite of the recession, he said, ICT tools could be utilised to develop innovative solutions to improve insurance practice, increase product development and expand market activities in the insurance sector.
“The suggested process, according to the minister, includes improved operational efficiency(including smooth communication between clients and company officials), office automation and optimisation, digital marketing and online marketplace for assessment and purchase of insurance packages.
He argued that in other climes, e-insurance has already been fully adopted and various insurance products can be obtained through online insurance portals, which are programmed to tailor unique insurance packages to the distinctive individual requirements of prospective customers.
