‘Insurance Critical For Financial Inclusion, Wealth Building’

Insurance is critical to drive financial inclusion and wealth creation in the country, hence, Nigerians should subscribe to insurance products and services.

The experts, who spoke at a recent webinar discussion noted that, during this hard times, insurance remains the best risk mitigation mechanism to replaced damaged assets that were earlier insured.

The webinar, which was hosted by the managing director of Coronation Insurance Plc, Olamide Olajolo, moderated by CNBC Africa Anchor, Wole Famurewa, while the panel of experts included: Adedeji Olowe, Founder and CEO at Lendsqr; Babatunde Akin Moses, CEO of Sycamore.ng; and Yemisi Isidi, CEO of Triift Africa.

According to the keynote speaker who is the founder/chief executive officer, Lendsqr Adedeji Olowe, said insurance is a key element in the financial inclusion strategy, saying, insurance remains one of the best tools for wealth creation.

Stressing that insurance is required in all human undertakings, he added that, a life without insurance is hopeless, comparing such a life to a driver who drives without using a seat belt.

To him, “a driver can drive for years without using a seat belt, but the day he gets involved in an accident, there would be nothing to save him from such disaster.

He submitted that it would be difficult to build a last wealth without leveraging insurance as risk mitigating measure, stressing that insurance helps a great deal in preserving wealth.”

Suggesting that there should be continuous insurance education and awareness, he called for enforcement of compulsory insurances , robust deployment of technology; embedment of insurance in goods and services, robust story telling; enlistment of prominent citizens – clerics, transitional leaders and celebs amongst other strategies.

Insurance practitioners, he urged, should live up to their responsibilities in claims payment, as most people don’t buy insurance owing to the attitude of some underwriters who aren’t paying claims promptly.

On his part, the CEO of Sycamore.ng, Babatunde Moses, who is also a member of panel of discussants, said insurance makes it easy for business owners to access credit. noting that, no finance house would grant credit facility to an individual without insurance to protect the facility.

Individuals seeking micro credit, have to show proof of insurance especially loss of job insurance, before their request are granted, he said. He urged business owners to leverage insurance in growing their businesses, as it is difficult to replace lost items in present Nigeria without insurance.

Moreover, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Triift Africa, Yemisi Isidi, said insurance is a system of paying now to save later, noting that, insurance is the major resort for small business owners to keep the businesses afloat.

Meanwhile, the managing director, Coronation Insurance Plc, Olamide Olajolo, said, the broader objectives of the event are to create awareness of Coronation Insurance’s products, increase the mailing list for client acquisition, improve brand visibility and reputation, and position Coronation Insurance as a thought leader in the financial services space.

He noted that insurance is a pooling system that enables policyholders contribute funds which are used to cater for those who suffer mishap.

In a volatile market where a single event could wipe out a lifetime’s work, they all agreed insurance played a critical role in both personal and business survival, saying, “by creating a pool of capital in which the good fortune of the many assured the survival of the few who encountered misfortune, insurance had a critical role to play – primarily by making sure that Nigerians didn’t rely on their savings or assets to cover losses.”

Panelists believe that the attitude to insurance could be changed in Nigeria by providing practical examples of how simple insurance products could sustain financial inclusion by protecting income and investment. They were also at pains to demonstrate the value of insurance, especially to businesses. Simple, affordable, products like health and life insurance for business owners, for example, could save a family or a small business owner from being wiped out by the ill health of the bread winner or single business operator, they stressed.