Oil & gas, aviation sectors neglecting insurance policy- NAICOM

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has lamented that businesses like the oil & gas and aviation sectors are not fully patronizing local insurers.
The statement was made by rhe Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive of NAICOM, Mr Sunday Thomas,  while speaking at a directors’ conference.
Acccording to him,  more businesses are being shipped abroad for reinsurance have further, noting helping this has eroded the capacity of the local market.
‘More businesses especially in the aviation sector and oil and gas are now being reinsured abroad. Of more concern is the declining participation of life companies in the annuity business which is the emerging business for our industry,’ Mr Thomas said.
‘These are the areas where the industry can impose itself on the economy through the control of funds for national development; unfortunately, we are missing it.’
,He stressed on the need of players to invest massively in technology which is one of our key drivers for developing the market.
‘Institutions should be prepared to digitalize their processes, procedures and systems in order to make their operation seamless and real time.’
He noted that NAICOM is investing heavily in automating its processes, saying that it expects the sane from insurance institutions.
He urged businesses not to jettison insurance policy as part of measures to cut cost in the face of the harsh economic environment.
He said: ‘It is good to reduce cost but in terms of insurance, people should ensure that all assets are adequately insured.
‘It is good to have a good risk management framework as well as be able to manage our insurances and assets. Many are left with the option of cutting cost, however, not all cost cutting will measure success and some might even end up hurting our businesses.
‘As business owners and as businesses spring up, we must ensure that we put the right processes in place in trying to manage our assets and ensure that we have more strategic thinking.
‘Risk is part of our business endeavours and the best thing is to evaluate and see what part of the risk you can transfer,’ noting that ‘the insurance industry has proven its relevance in the affairs of the economy.’