By Bisi Bamishe
The SUNU Group, the parent company of the SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc, has hosted insurance brokers for their role in deepening insurance penetration in the sector.
The brokers were hosted to a Business Dinner Meeting for insurance brokers in Lagos and in honour of SUNU Group executives who visited the country.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SUNU Group, Karim-Franck Dione who spoke at the event said it has been a good experience working with the brokers.
While appreciating the brokers for finding the company worthy of doing business with, he noted that they are open to doing more business with them and ensure Nigerians are served well on their insurance needs.
He said that the company is in business to pay claims when it occurs and has been doing so promptly.
The SUNU Deputy Chief however assured that the Group is prepared to meet any recapitalisation thresholds that would be set by the authorities.
The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Bill, which is currently awaiting presidential assent, increase the minimum capital for life insurance businesses from N2 billion to N10 billion, non-life insurance firms from N3 billion to N15 billion and provides for reinsurance companies to N35 billion, up from the previous N10 billion.
The bill also strengthens consumer protection, thus safeguarding the interests of policyholders and promoting transparency and fairness in insurance practices and an enhanced regulatory framework, among other things.
Speaking with journalists about the interest of the SUNU Group in Nigeria, Dione said, “We believe in Nigeria and we are in Nigeria to stay. So SUNU is a group with financial resources. If we have to face recapitalisation, SUNU will face recapitalisation. Whatever the level of capitalization, we will meet it. It’s a commitment that the major shareholders took in the presence of the board, the whole management and the whole team.”
Dione asserted that while doing business in Nigeria may be challenging, the country holds a lot of potentials.
“Doing business in Nigeria is not easy, but for an insurer like me, we’re looking for real market, real power, numbers, economic strength. And that’s why I said, Nigeria makes sense to come as an African, to come and to invest in the country. I believe in the future of Africa. There is no contest, Nigeria is the biggest market for banks, insurance, and surely lots of other things in sub-Saharan Africa, except South Africa, of course. The potential is huge, the people are competent and the resources are just crazy. So, of course, Nigeria is the place to be for an African if you want to do business.
“We are really excited about being on the ground. If you find the right people, you work with good intelligence, you can only make progress, despite all the little challenges that we can face daily in this country,” he said.
Speaking on some of the daily challenges of doing business in Nigeria, Dione highlighted poor power supply and infrastructure.
“I will start with power. Which I think is an issue for a lot of industries and other businesses here in Nigeria. I will talk about infrastructures, the roads, if you want to export, if you want to import, if you want to produce and move goods from one place to another, you need to have good infrastructure to fast-track it.
“Of course, it’s not always easy for a foreigner like us to understand how we should do business here. So if you are not well-accompanied, you may find it difficult. This is a challenge. For us, we have identified the right people on the ground to join and carry the SUNU vision. But I’m telling you, if you don’t try to find the right people, it’s complicated. After that, of course, is the regulation, which is very strict from my point of view, compared to where I’m coming from. The competition is just crazy in this market. You have 56 players in a country for General Business. It’s just amazing. It’s even more than France. That’s your strength.”
On ways to drive insurance penetration, Dione said, enforcement is key.
“Enforcement is key and insurance should be made compulsory. More products should be in the market as well. Every single building here must be covered against fire. Public buildings must be covered in any way. And this must be compulsory and enforced. If not, we will not make progress. Because the industry will be based on the goodwill of people who understand the benefits of insurance,” he said.
Speaking on insurance penetration, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, SUNU Assurances Nigeria PLC, Samuel Ogbodu, noted that a lack of awareness of the value of insurance was a major driver of the low penetration figures.
He said, “You know the issue is awareness. Most people are not aware of the benefits of insurance and SUNU is out there to create awareness. It is one of the reasons we host this type of thing, we are circulating proposals to everybody who came to show them that we will provide benefits if you have motor accidents, we will compensate you. If you are injured under the general health care policy, we will compensate you. So most people don’t know the benefits of insurance. We are one of the insurance companies that pay claims regularly. We pay our claims.
“I remember when they (the Group) came, when we met, the first thing they said was that the SUNU policy is payment of claims. They don’t want policyholders to suffer. If they have paid their premium, you must compensate them. If the claim is genuine, you must pay immediately. And the human resources must be well taken care of. So all those things are areas we are building on and you can see the results”, the MD added.
