Risk Based Supervision For Insurance Sector Begins In August-NAICOM

… Unveils Three Years Strategic Plan

The National Insurance Commission has announced that Risk Based Supervision policy will take off in the Nigerian insurance market in the next two months.

Speaking at the just concluded 2021 seminar for insurance Journalists in Lagos, the Commissioner for insurance, Sunday Thomas noted that RBS has become reality with the take off.

RBS is a system in which the supervising authority allocates time and resources to firms based on the level of risk inherent to their balance sheet.

The supervisor is expected to assess systemic risk that affects the industry as a whole, and then analyse the level of risk specific to each firm.

It takes a holistic approach, and studies the business units within the enterprise, each of which may carry varying levels of risk.

He said ”The relevant persons have been trained, the necessary skills have been acquired and the instruments that will enable implement have been development, what is left is to do the finishing touches for the take off.”

On awareness, the Commissioner called on operators to increase their budget in the area of publicity.

“We are too far behind, not much of insurance is known. The regulator will do it’s best but I tell you that the operator s must corporate with us for all of us to be on the same page”, he said.

The commission also unveiled its 2021-2023 strategic plans for efficient service delivery, protection of trust and confidence in the insurance industry.

Speaking at the unveiling, Mr Usman Ibrahim Jankara, Head, Strategy and Special Duties, while delivering a paper explained that the strategic plan was hinged on five goals including entrenching effective and efficient service delivery, ensuring safe, sound and stable insurance sector.

Other goals are to adequately protect policyholders and public interest, improve trust and confidence in the insurance sector, encourage innovation and promote insurance market development.

According to him, the goals will consolidate on the gains of the 2016 -2020 strategic plan with new milestones required to enable the commission accomplish its mission.

Jankara noted that some of the commission’s 2016 to 2020 strategic plans were not achieved due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors .

“Our strategic plan has simplified what we will focus on and we are now more convinced that we will do much better this year.

“We want to have a stable insurance industry to compete globally and contribute to the country’s economy.”

He said the plan would also ensure that policyholders’ complaints were handled better and promptly.

On Improving trust and confidence in the insurance sector, he said market conduct failures, ineffective complaints and grievance management, challenges with distressed insurers, and unethical practices and money laundering have all negatively impacted trust in the industry.

However he assured that the commission is set to institute good market conduct in the Nigerian insurance industry and ensuring fair complaint/grievance management system