Prisca Soares, former managing director of NICON Insurance has been appointed the secretary-general of the African Insurance Organization, AIO, with effect from 2007. The appointment which was a fall-out of the just concluded AIO conference in Libreville, Gabon, is renewable every four years. Soares is the first woman and Nigerian to hold the prestigious position, which has its secretariat in Douala, Cameroun.
Speaking on the future of the organization during an interview with magazine, Soares said that her first assignment will be to ascertain the position of the secretariat because in the last two years the secretariat has been unstable because there has not been a substantive secretary-general. “There is a challenge because AIO has always been a vibrant organization and with the lapses in the last couple of years, there are many gaps that need to be filled. I will make sure that AIO actually gives value to its member organizations because things are changing”, said Soares.
Another area of priority according to Soares will be the completion of the AIO software which has been pending for many years. “If it is installed, it will make things easy for companies operating in the market with greater access to information. One of the objectives of AIO is to promote software, and it will be cheaper for members. If it is completed and companies subscribe to it, it will make cross-border transitions much easier because there will be uniformity in the system. So, that is, one area I will look into and quickly find a lasting solution”, she said.
Soares promised to broaden the scope of the AIO to make other people who are non- insurance operators to come in, hoping that it would enrich the organization.
