Insurance industry retooling to sustain operations — Soyewo
The insurance Industry in Nigeria is taking opportunities provided by digitization to restore disruptions brought about by COVID-19 pandemic and sustain profitable operational activities.
Prince Femisayo Soyewo, Executive Chairman, Prestige Insurance Brokers, said that the financial services sector of which insurance and pensions are critical players had their fair share of the impact of the pandemic.
Speaking at the 2021 annual conference of the National Association of Insurance And Pension Correspondents Association, NAIPCO, in Lagos, Soyewo, said, “For insurance industry, aside from the long cessation of work, necessitating remote working conditions, the pandemic led to the need to review rates and revisit some of the policy conditions and exclusions earlier permissible for some insurances.
“I want to believe that the pension sector also had its own side of the pandemic which they would be able to relate to us more explicitly at this auspicious forum.”
He said the theme of the Conference: “COVID-19: Impact of Financial Inclusion: Opportunities for Insurance and Pensions Sectors” cannot be more apt than now, when the entire world is just heaving a sigh of relieve from the ruinous impact of the pandemic. It makes little news that the pandemic disrupted the usual work culture and affected every facet of human endeavors never experienced in recent history.
According to him, “It is heartwarming that many individuals and operators have taken the whole pandemic experience as an opportunity for a paradigm shift in all their undertakings. It has led to retooling of operational strategies by corporate institutions leading to higher profitability and easier ways of doing things virtually and getting results. We must all come to terms with the fact that change is the only permanent thing in life and those who are resistant to change would be changed by change ultimately.”
He commended NAIPCO for its very effective reportage of events, particularly relating to the insurance industry.
“Reflecting on my tenure as President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers brings to me fresh memory of my exciting walk and work with journalists. They assisted the Council and the Insurance Broking sector in no small measure in achieving the cardinal focus of my tenure, which was significantly anchored on image making and strategic engagement. It was also a time when the Council had to fight its legal battles with the regulator with regards to the acceptance of the NCRIB Act 2003.
“It is heartwarming that the Council, won the various legal battles through partly the positive support and positive reportage of the media at the time. Part of the fallout of the whole episode has today helped to put our Council in the headlines and brand prominence, for which I am personally grateful.”
