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How Technology Can Transform Insurance in Nigeria

Fintech	3115 VIEWS
Fintech
3115 VIEWS

Friday, January 04, 2019 10.00AM / Bukola Akinyele for Proshare WebTV

As Nigeria seeks to improve insurance penetration, panelists at the maiden edition of the African Fintech Festival recently discussed how Technology could be deployed to improve digital technology footprints in the Insurance business.

Speaking on the developments in micro-insurance, Mr Bode Pedro, Managing Director/CEO, Cassava Nigeria Limited argued that Nigerians need to develop new attitudes towards the business of insurance.

Mr Pedro noted that investments in technology and innovation can be used to develop insurance products that are simple, affordable, and attractive.

On issues of “Trust” which is vital for the sustainability of Insurance, Mrs Mojisola Onifade the Managing Director, Capital Express Assurance admitted that there are trust issues in the sector which is one out of several things hampering the Industry’s growth.

She was of the view that Nigerians want to see demonstrable benefits, to confidently accept that Insurance will meet its service promise.

Onifade also stressed that awareness of the benefits of Insurance across the country is low.

The Capital Express MD called for technology deployment to enhance processes within the sector in order to ease the claims process, drive transparency, and make it easy for people to gain access to their benefits.

For Mr Kobi Bendelek Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Insurtech based in Israel, said Artificial Intelligence can help Nigerian insurance companies improve their customer experience, especially in the area of health insurance.

Mr Bendelek giving the Isreali experience said that there is a startup that can help insurance companies to understand their clients and carry out better underwriting activities.

Speaking further Mr Bode Pedro made a case for an enabling regulatory environment that encourages the development of AI in Nigeria.

Pedro also harped on shared services data, which will see cooperation between banks, telcos and insurance companies, leveraging on the National Health Insurance Scheme.

According to him “Until banks, telcos and insurance companies start talking to one another we can’t really leverage high technology like AI. For us as an industry we need in 2019 to connect with key industries stakeholders and leverage Identity management technology in order to process information”.