By ROSEMARY ONUOHA
Former Managing Director of Continental Reinsurance Plc, Mr. Adeyemo Adejumo, has charged underwriters to invest more in Information Communication Technology (IT) as this will enhance service delivery and boost their operations.

Adejumo, who stated this recently in Ibadan, appealed to underwriters to massively deploy ICT in their organisations and ensure that all branch offices are linked to the network.

In his words “Underwriters should deploy ICT that will make it possible for them to underwrite somebody in Sokoto from Lagos and vise-versa. When this is done, it will help to deepen insurance penetration in the country”

Meanwhile, General Manager of Micro Ensure Ghana, Mr. Peter Gross said that insurers should collaborate with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to sell insurance products to the large Nigerian population.

Gross noted that underwriters can provide micro insurance to the teeming informal sector by using the MNOs platform.

In his words “Providing micro insurance through the ubiquitous mobile telecommunications platform is the only available means of developing products to insure the critical mass that form the informal sector in Nigeria and allow the insurance industry to increase the level of insurance penetration.”

Gross also urged insurers in Nigeria to collaborate with MNOs in order to deliver insurance services to the doorsteps of average Nigerians, explaining that micro insurance penetration is low in Nigeria because of a few faulty assumptions within the insurance community.

According to him these assumptions include such remarks as, “We don’t believe that 70 per cent of Nigerians can be insured. Insurance is not in demand or cannot be understood by the target client base. If insurance for the poor must be low cost, it therefore must be low value. The poor face more risk, so we have to account for.  We can use our basic policies and strip them down.”

He quipped that faulty assumptions in the insurance community have ultimately led to faulty products such as low-value credit life products, heavy conditions and exclusions that erode consumer trust, insurance processes that do not account for rural realities and administrative systems that cannot handle millions of clients.

Besides, Gross pointed out that micro insurance penetration is low in Nigeria on the buying side because most Nigerians think insurance products are too expensive.  “They do not trust the insurers enough.

They think insurance products are not available and they also feel that no one has explained it to them,” he added.

He however warned insurers that collaborating with mobile operators to provide micro insurance is not a guarantee for success if the right approach is not adopted.

While listing what he termed success requirements, Gross said the requirements for successful use of mobile channel to drive micro insurance should include products that drive channel’s core business, simplified processes, minimized operation expenses, commitment to the micro market, capital must be patient and  that insurers should develop the right partners.