Stakeholders advise insurance, pension operators on growth strategies

They spoke during the 8th annual national conference of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors, with the theme, ‘Role of insurance and pension in building sustainable economic growth under the new government’, in Lagos.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Scib Insurance Brokers, Mr Shola Tinubu, spoke on the need for government to adopt creative policies and regulations that are business-friendly.

He said, “On the insurance side, capital had been driven by statutory requirements. We are talking about the regulator mandating the players to get certain quantum of capital without creating ground for that capital.

“Meaning that companies have to strive for capital just to stay in business, and what has happened in the various rounds that we had was that there was no creative idea for channeling the capital.”

He explained that operators did not need capital for the sake of raising it, but for investment opportunities that would yield higher returns.

The Managing Director, ARM Pension, Mr Wale Odutola, represented by the Executive Director, Investment, ARM Pension, Mrs Abimbola Suleiman, said every household had a need for basic insurance and a basic pension plan.

Odutola noted that insurance and pension had gone a long way in improving the lives of people.

Former Secretary General of the African Insurance Organisation, Ms Prisca Soares, said, lack of skilled manpower, especially in the area of dearth of actuaries, was presently challenging the insurance industry.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Operator Association of Nigeria,

Mr Oguche Aguda, represented by Head of Research Department at PenOp, Mr. Akinbola Akintola, said, the insurance and pension sectors were facing the same challenge of public confidence.