Delivering his keynote address at the Golden Jubilee Anniversary Lecture of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) , President Koroma stated that Insurance is the backbone of any economy.
It is important therefore that the Nigeria insurance industry remains as always, vibrant and innovative, creating a critical mass of revenue from a wider customer base and a more diversified menu of products thus stabilizing the market.
He also stated that now, more than ever, we need to expand the fields of our visions, scale up our aspirations, and transform the fortunes of our people.
President Koroma reiterated that “there are large sections of our population who are so poor that they cannot, in the present circumstances, afford insurance cover”.
He challenged insurers in the sub-region to improve on the insurance coverage for people through what he referred to as humanitarian insurance.
President Koroma said “ as insurers, if we’re not already doing so, want to voluntarily set aside a percentage of our profits to broaden our insurance cover to target the marginalized social groups and communities”.
‘We as insurers may want, for example, adopt a particular village or a social category like the aged or widows and provide affordable health cover for them” he stated.
He also observed that such schemes would not only increase the profile of our industry, it would also increase insurance density and spread knowledge about the insurance industry.
He reiterated his faith in the ability of the insurance industry to pool resources, support productive investments, and help mitigate some of the risks to human lives that are associated with globalization, climate change and natural disasters.
The choice of the theme: The CIIN at 50: Insurance as a Vehicle for National Development, he said could not have been more appropriate at a time, when the world is facing a financial crisis of global proportion.
It is up to financial institutions such as the insurance business and others like it that people will be looking for remedies to the crisis.
He noted that only very few of our local insurance companies in Africa are internationally affiliated.
He pointed out that the insurance business does not operate in isolation, adding that Insurance companies re-insure their risks with local and international re-insurance firms.
President Koroma observed that since our underwriters have treaties with international re-insurance companies, there will be an impact of the global crisis on the Nigerian insurance companies when the treaties are up for renewal.
He recalled that a year and a half ago, the people of Sierra Leone elected him as President because they believed that in the risky times in which we found ourselves, it was good policy to put an insurance professional in charge.
“They had faith in the products and premiums we offered and hedged the country’s fortunes with our expertise, commitment and good will”, he said.
He explained that when he announced his intention to go into politics, somebody advised him against it because politics is a risky business. “I replied, I am a manager of risks, a professional who turns risks into opportunities; an expert who mobilizes resources to cushion the costs of risks”. I told that friend that politics is in many ways the continuation of insurance by other means.
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