Yemisi Izuora
The new President of the West Africa Insurance Companies Association, (WAICA), Mr Eddie Efekoha, has said that one of his priorities would be to engage the West African Insurance Supervisors (WAISA) to harmonise policies and regulations within the subregion as well as make WAICA a repository of information on insurance in West Africa.
Efekoha, was speaking during his acceptance speech at his investiture as the 40th President of the Association where he also unveiled three- point agenda to give a new direction to the Association for the next one years.
In other to achieve he said “the West African Insurance industry need to collectively, and in unity, step up its actions by being the backbone of the various economies, provide the much-required peace of mind for all stakeholders in these crucial times and create an enabling environment for industries and economies in the sub-region.
“I promise solemnly that we will work hard to reinvent WAICA for more value addition. I will work closely with other stakeholders including the Regulators across the sub-region to give WAICA the required impetus and support to serve the insurance industries and the nations better.
“Together, from the chores of Gambia to Ghana to Liberia to Nigeria and to Sierra Leone, we shall work together to ensure that insurance takes its rightful place in the Anglophone West African States and will become the envy of all on how insurance should be practiced for profitability, in unity and with integrity, professionalism, hindsight and foresight,” he assured.
According to him his tenure will galvanize the collective knowledge, strength, and will power of members to build the WAICA of our dream and aspiration.
“My election today presents another opportunity for all stakeholders in the WAICA family to re-appraise the state of WAICA and chart a new course to strengthen the body for more far-reaching contributions to the socio-economic development of our subregion.
“I pledge to continue to uphold and promote the ideals of WAICA as we collectively strive to take the Association to the next higher level by focusing more on areas that require improvement in order to actualize our desire to build a sound, efficient and financially stable WAICA capable of adding value to its members across West Africa.
He said his immediate tasks are to ensure proper restructuring and staffing of the WAICA Secretariat.