Yemisi Izuora.
Nigeria’s Insurance sector regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has stressed the need to review Industry capitalisation to ascertain the deployment of current capital.
Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari, who gave the indication declared that the commission will not engage in reckless introduction of capital requirements for insurers.
According to the commissioner, The commission will conduct a pilot inspection on the insurance industry under its risk-based supervision initiative before the end of 2017, to test adaptation to the model and determine gaps and problems before full implementation.
He said NAICOM will commence the second phase of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative scheme, to bring in states for effective Implementation, adding that the commission will engage the Nigerian Governors Forum to discuss the importance of the scheme and how it could enhance their capacity to create jobs in their domain and increase internally generated revenue.
The NAICOM head warned that insurance firms in the country are being short-changed in their mobile insurance partnerships with telecom operators, as the telecoms rake in more than 80% of the premium as commission, while the insurers bear the burden of paying claims when liabilities occur.
Barineka Thompson, director, inspectorate of NAICOM, called on insurance firms to wake up to the realities of financial technology as it will negatively impact on their operations and growth potential.
He was emphatic that fintech is already affecting the insurance value chain in terms of product development, distribution and underwriting.