By

John Michael Ojo

The private and public sectors must work together to eradicate poverty and improve the insurance sector in Nigeria and Africa in general.

This was the position of the founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation, and the Chairman of UBA Group and Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, during the official lunch of his Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance in Lagos State.

The entrepreneur said: “It is when our policy as regulators and public sector leaders begin to understand that for us to create employment, for us to create jobs that our people need, for us to eradicate poverty the two must work together.

He stated that the licence granted to his organisation will further create additional job opportunity in the country.

“By just approving this licence to be given to us, a licence we have looked for over 7, 8 years and not just for us but about five other investors, you have helped to create more jobs in this country and to even add to our tax revenue in this country and adding further to the overall economic activities of the country.

“What we are doing here today demonstrates our core purpose, our essence, who we are at the Heirs Holdings Group.

“We like to improve lives and transform our continent starting with our country.

“We are trying to improve lives by creating jobs, by improving the economic activities, contributing more revenue to the government coffers.

“But most importantly, we want to help the Nigeria Insurance or public.

“There’s something they’ve yearned for over the years, they want insurance companies or services that can be offered on a platform of excellence, superior service delivery, customer service, digitally-driven and above all, they want insurance that is on their side: affordable insurance products, reliable insurance products and that is what Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance would bring to our people.

“We will work with NAICOM, we will work with our fellow companies and the larger Nigeria private sector to make sure that we change the Insurance landscape in Nigeria.

Olorundare Sunday Thomas, the substantive NAICOM Commissioner who lauded Elumelu for his doggedness in adding value to the nation disclosed that Lagos State remained the most insurance-friendly state in the country.

He added that the coming of Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance would help to de-risk other sectors of the economy.

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Olorundare stated that “the timing of this lunch could not have been more auspicious in view of the fact that the National Insurance Commission has been rolling out various development initiatives aimed at deepening insurance penetration in the country.

“With the level of capitalisation of these companies, Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance, I have no doubt that the Nigeria insurance market is poised to write big ticket risks.

“We want to minimise outflow and conserve foreign exchange for national development.”

The commissioner, however, cautioned the managements of the new companies to work within the regulations and guidelines of NAICOM

” Let me quickly state that the commission expects that the affairs of these companies will be conducted in consonance with extant insurance sector governance, guidelines and other directives.

” The independence of the board and its committees including adequate disclosure and transparency and strict compliance with the regulatory requirements are required of these companies.

“Let me state here for the records, that while collaborative efforts to reposition and rebrand the industry have become imperative, the commission is now more determined to ensure professionalism, and high ethical standards to protect the integrity of the Nigerian insurance industry.

In his remarks, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who described Elumelu as a true African acknowledged the presence and the impact of the private sector in the economy.

The governor stated that there was a need to encourage the private sector which is the engine room of growth.

“We need to encourage the private sector because they are the real engine room of growth. We need to acknowledge that no matter how well government do, they certainly cannot employ everybody that needs to be employed. And the private sector is the real engine room of growth. They are the ones that can create opportunities for our businesses. They are the ones that indeed can grow the GDP”, he said.

Sanwo-Olu disclosed that he was aware of the financial challenges some of the insurance companies faced towards the end of 2020.

“I am aware that the insurance industry had a bit of shakeup toward the end of last year because they asked all of their old insurance companies to increase their share capital.

I am in one, so, we had to go and look for money to keep them alive.

“So, I am aware that both Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance is one of the most liquid and well-capitalised insurance companies right now.

“But it is not just really about that sector, it’s about what they’ve shown us, that it is freshness they are bringing to the sector and they’ve said to us that it is going to be simple, they are going to use technology as a strong enabler of it.

” It’s going to be accessible and it’s going to be affordable. These are the three strong words that ur businesses of today require.

“We need to be simple, it has to be something people can get in a click of a button or right in their palm. It has to be accessible, it has to be affordable. Because everybody is now looking at the bottom line. They are looking at the cost and so affordability is critical.

“And if you also listened to Tony Elumelu this morning you will note that the GDP to insurance issue in this country is sub-optimal and with penetrations like this you begin to see changes in the indices and you begin to see that number go up.

“Like you’ve said and you are correct, some of the biggest companies in the world are insurance companies.

“If you go to America, if you go to the UK they actually own everything and so we need to change the conversation for that sector and change it very well.

I’m sure and I’m convinced and I know that Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance will certainly change the landscape”, he added.

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