AfCFTA: Improve value proposition, NAICOM urges brokers
The National Insurance Commission has urged Nigerian brokers to improve their value proposition and professionals to take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.
The Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, made this observation at a workshop organised to prepare brokers for the take-off of the agreement organised by the Nigerian Insurance Industry Committee on AfCFTA.
Omosehin, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner (Technical), Dr. Usman Jankara, said, “As insurance brokers, you play a critical role in the insurance value chain. Your expertise and professionalism are essential in facilitating the growth of the industry. The National Insurance Commission is determined to ensure that Nigerian insurance brokers are not disadvantaged in the AfCFTA regime. However, we must emphasise that brokers must seize the gauntlet and improve their value proposition, professionalism, and service delivery to remain very relevant.
“In other words, the Commission will provide the necessary support and guidance, but it is ultimately up to you, the brokers, to take the necessary steps to remain competitive and relevant. This is one of the reasons the Commission has heightened its ongoing supervision and regulation of insurance brokers, including the latest requirement for the development of manuals, codes of ethics, and standard operating manuals. This workshop aims to provide you with insights into the AfCFTA agreement, its implications for the Nigerian insurance industry, and the opportunities it presents.”
To prepare Nigerian insurance brokers for the take-off of AfCFTA, we must focus on key areas including capacity building, professionalism, and digital transformation.
Backing the CFI, the Deputy Managing Director of Insurance Brokers of Nigeria Limited, Eric Omozejele, in his paper presentation at the workshop, highlighted the need to build capacity.
He said, “There is a need for capacity building. Without it, there is no way you can offer anything. Whether it is through training or access, we need to do what is required to operate under this agreement because the market has been opened for us to access. Regulatory alignment: As a broker, you need to go to other countries, research, review, and understand the regulatory issues that are there for you to operate effectively.
“Technology, you cannot be here and be in Ghana, or Senegal, or Sierra Leone at the same time. We have to develop the technology that we will use and the cybersecurity that we can use to protect ourselves. There is no way we can operate without technology. If, as brokers, we don’t have technology in our operations as we speak, then we are not ready for this.”
Director of Trade in Services, Investment, IPR, and Digital Trade at the AfCFTA Secretariat, Emily Mburu-Ndoria, who also spoke at the event, emphasised that under the principle of reciprocity, only those regulators that have mutual recognition agreements will be able to enjoy those kinds of agreements or standards that are available.
She said, “Liberalisation is not the deregulation. So as a country, you still have the right to regulate your sector, and even as we have a regional agreement, there will still be room for having what we call a mutual recognition agreement for the insurance sector. So, if you have mutual regulation agreements between the regulators (in different countries), then it means the standard of regulating the sector will be syncing within those countries that have mutual recognition agreements, and so in that case, you may not require that if an appropriate company is registered in Nigeria, then it needs again to do another registration, let’s say in Kenya.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of the NII-AfCFTA committee, Ekeoma Ezeibe, in her welcome address, noted that the committee has entered a new phase of enlightenment of the operators in the industry, including brokers.
