Africa Alliance Insurance hits 50% growth, as income appreciates to N3.05bn
By Asishana John
The Africa Alliance Insurance buoyed by significant financial stride in the course of 2021, has set a fresh target in hopes of growing its market share to 50 per cent.
Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, MD/CEO, of the Insurance firm while addressing Members’ Evening of the NCRIB Abuja Area Committee Meeting on 29 July, 2021, said already the company’s unaudited Q2 2021 results saw its market share grew by 23 per cent Year-On-Year, yoy, a figure way above the industry average of 18 per cent.
This is just the start, she said as the company is projecting at having a minimum of 50 per cent yoy growth by year end.
The firm’s Gross Premium Income also rose by 66 per cent yoy from N1.8billion to N3.05billion, just as it paid 29 per cent more claims yoy from N2.43billion to N3.12billion, an obvious testament to its ongoing commitment to paying genuine claims as due.
The Insurance firm paid a total of N3.12billion claims in the period under review.
All these efforts are backed by a robust reinsurance treaty with top reinsurer in the business which has helped it spread its risks and also aided its capacity to take in more risks at any point in time.
Further, Ojemudia, said, “We recently opened a branch office in Abeokuta. One of our strategic goals for 2021 is to grow our premium income via deliberate market expansion and identifying regions that have good prospects for life insurance.
“This Abeokuta branch—and the others soon to be opened—brings us closer to realizing those goals. This further demonstrates our growing retail strength and I must quickly say this would be the first new branch the company will open in recent years. Over the next few weeks, we are opening another in Akure, Ilorin and another in the South East as soon as we conclude our feasibility studies.”
On product development, she said, “As a life insurer of repute with a continuous quest for customer satisfaction, we are currently working on an array of products as demanded by the market.
“First, our Esusu plus is being revamped in response to our customers’ yearnings. Then we have concluded work on our innovative Term Assurance plan, a product sure to excite the market for its short term focus and value addition. These products are outcomes of customer survey and therefore addresses their needs whilst ensuring viable benefits for all and sundry.”
The MD, said the company is investing in the digital space to increase its digital footprint. “We are easily one of the most active insurers across the major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and, until recently, Twitter. In addition we have set up a self-service policy takeup platform specifically for brokers as it concerns our Term Assurance product. Call it a do-it-yourself portal, the portal is customised for all brokers to buy end-to-end without need for any intervention from us, the insurer. This is one of the ways we are embedding technology in the way we work just so we can achieve more quicker and do more faster.”
She spoke extensively on human capital development and presently the African Alliance has led in producing first-class human capital across departments and business lines.
“In recent times, you would agree with me that our industry demands a nimble, well-informed and constantly upgraded workforce to meet the market expectations and deliver on time for the Z generation. In order to ensure we are not left behind, we have hired an in-house Training and Development expert, someone whose years of experience across various sectors and industries has, in a short while, grown our human capital on a budget.
“This is in a bid to ensure we are ahead of the game in offering best value and on time to you our respected brokers as well as our teeming customers out there. We have now incorporated a robust training and retraining schedule into our human capital management across all staff cadre. Several of these trainings have already been completed while a couple more are in progress.
“Also, we have centralised our claims system whilst restructuring the entire claims team. Now led by a versatile claims professional, the department has been adequately fortified with more staff and new processes put in place. This has given us immediate results as our claims profile suggests with faster and prompt claims payment now the order of the day.
“Our ICT team has been beefed up with a Head of Department with demonstrated experience across the financial services. The impact is being felt in the area of digital adoption and we are definitely excited about the many more innovations to come in the weeks ahead from this reenergised ICT team.”
In less than one year of this new tenure, the firm has recorded outstanding wins on several fronts.
“First, our ISO 22301 certification was renewed following an extensive audit by the global ISO audit team. We make bold to say we are one of very few insurance firms with an ISO certified business continuity management in place. This confirms our oft-repeated affirmation that we will be with our customers for life. With this recertification, we have exhibited practical success in ensuring we remain with you for life, through thick or thin, come rain, come shine.
“Within the period of our assumption of office, Champion Newspapers, one of the leading newspapers in the Nigerian media recognised us as the Insurance Company of the Decade. The recognition was bestowed on us for our resilience and boundless staying power which has become the stuff of legends.
“This win means a lot to us as a business because it clearly shows that our best efforts and complementary results are not unnoticed by the fourth estate of the realm. We look forward to many more of these awards, as they keep us on our toes and help us get better in what we do.” Ojemudia said.
