FBN Insurance Brokers Limited, a subsidiary FBN Holdings Plc, has developed a digital roadmap that will provide digital solutions for the Nigerian insurance market.
The company said part of the plan is an interactive website that would be re-launched soon with more Nigerians getting connected digitally.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Olumide Ibidapo, said FBN Insurance Brokers would continue to engage with the public and create as much awareness as possible, paying particular attention to the financially excluded segments, knowing that insurance is a solution everybody needs.
Ibidapo, who spoke during an interview with select journalists in Lagos, said the 21 years old brokerage firm is partnering with other stakeholders towards creating more channels and avenues to reach more people.
“We at FBN Insurance Brokers believe that the future is digital. So, we have developed a digital roadmap that entails providing digital solutions for the Nigerian insurance market.
“Part of that plan is our highly interactive website that would be re-launched soon. With more Nigerians getting connected digitally, this is one area that must be paid attention to, ”he said.
According to him, there is no gainsaying that the business environment the company operates in is a very tough one, and to have navigated the tough terrain for more than 20 years is a testament to the management’s resilience and continuous reinvention.
“We are happy to be making our input in nation development and this will continue and even get better years to come. At 21, we are proudly in a special league of elite companies from this part of the world. Today, there are over 500 insurance brokers listed and registered with NAICOM. That number might keep growing as long as the industry as a whole keeps performing, ”he said.
He said surviving new entrants and squaring up to old giants requires a strategy that makes competition irrelevant.
He added that the company is not focusing on what others do or don’t do. “Our focus is on how to out-perform ourselves year on year. These days, we are focused on disrupting our business and reinventing ourselves. This has really helped us over the years.”
He, however, commended the regulators of the industry for the work they have been doing thus far, saying the growth experienced would not have been possible without their guidance.
Ibidapo noted that the insurance market potential in Nigeria was huge, adding that comparing insurance penetration and uptake rate in Nigeria with that of other African countries like South Africa, Kenya and Ghana, one would see that the company could be doing more.
Speaking on the recapitalisation of the insurance industry, he said the Covid-19 pandemic played a major part in slowing down the regulator’s plan for the exercise.
He however said it was something that would eventually come to play; and would be for the benefit of the entire industry and all the major stakeholders.
“Ultimately, recapitalisation will enable underwriters to play big and have higher capacity to underwrite more local insurance businesses and also meet up with their claims obligations. This will help in improving the trust that Nigerians have in the insurance industry and consequently increase insurance uptake, ”he added.
