Insurance companies have expressed readiness to deepen insurance penetration through the adoption of digital channels.
The insurers, who gathered at the investiture programme of Edwin Igbiti, the 51st president/ chairman of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), said efforts would be channelled to new product development, customer satisfaction and digitalisation of processes.
According to them, the industry has continued to hold onto its traditional way of operating, whereas the world has moved on with the digital revolution to deepen financial inclusion.
Igbiti, in his acceptance speech, called on industry stakeholders for support to enable the new administration to achieve the three-point agenda set to elevate the institute and underwriting business in the country.
He said: “I understand the responsibilities the office confers on the new administration especially, in an increasingly dynamic world characterised by uncertainty and volatility as evidenced by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, we all must adapt and flow with the new order occasioned by the disruptions to business and personal life leading to the fast digitalisation that made the world a global village, an era when information and innovation travel at a rapid speed.”
He urged underwriters to develop new insurance products and solutions, especially in property and casualty segments.
On claims payment, he urged operators to leverage a wide range of digital ecosystems to take out or reduce manual interventions in claims-related tasks.
According to him, this will stimulate improvements in claims processing, administration as well as fraud detection operations.
Also, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, African Alliance Insurance Plc, Joyce Ojemudia, in her presentation at a conference of the industry’s directors, said that digital expansion and continuous training of staff are keys the industry needed to tap into the opportunities provided by the economy.
According to her, the world is digital and for the industry to improve, it must be committed to digital expansion.
She added that local and intentional collaboration would be critical to scaling “our impact and deepening penetration in Nigeria as well as on the continent”.
The Managing Director of Tangerine Insurance Plc, Ademuyiwa Adeduro, who also spoke at the conference, noted that claim settlement is key to the core value proposition of the industry.
“It is expected that players will key into ever-evolving technology in upscaling service delivery with respect to claims management the use of a drone, robotics, artificial intelligence, electronic payment platform and synchronisation of enterprise resource programmes will assist the industry in better claims management, prevention of fraudulent activities and availability of data for decision-making, “he said.
