Economic reality affecting insurance patronage -Association

The Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) has said that the current economic reality in the country has adversely affected the patronage of insurance products.

Mr Kazeem Odewunmi, President of the association, made the observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Lagos.

“My assessment of the rate at which Nigerians are patronising insurance with the present economic reality is very low.

“This can be improved if underwriters can design products that are pocket-friendly,” he said.

According to him, the average number of Nigerians with one form of an insurance policy or the other is still less than one per cent of the country’s total population.

The association’s president noted that while underwriters and the regulatory body were trying to further deepen penetration in the market, they needed to do more.

Odewunmi said that insurance companies must design products for the low-income earners, who are at the bottom of the pyramid, such as the pepper sellers, mechanics, bricklayers and others.

He charged underwriters to carry agents along, in the design and launch of new products, to improve patronage.

“ARIAN, as a key stakeholder in the Nigerian insurance industry from inception, is ready to move the insurance industry forward through our numbers, which is our strength.

“For example, we just inaugurated a social media platform that contains more than 20,000 active members.

“Let’s assume our members sell 50 compulsory insurance each in a month, this will be a great feat and will help more in the area of insurance penetration.

(NAN)