For a transformation of the insurance industry in Nigeria, there is a call for a reduction in the number of players in the industry.
This call was made by the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Continental Reinsurance, Femi Oyetunji, the Guardian reports.
Oyetunji sounded an alarm of the “danger” of big international firms swooping in and dominating the sector, leaving Nigerian companies struggling to keep up.
He advised insurance companies to consolidate and trim the number of insurance companies playing the field for a better, stronger industry.
He said, “If we don’t reduce the number of insurance companies in the market, we are not going anywhere. My personal belief is that 15 to 20 well-capitalized, skilled insurance companies will transform the industry.
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“We can see the danger, having seen the trend. Why we have not seen many of them at the moment is because of the economic situation.
“Once the situation improves, the big players from America and Europe will come in and dominate, and that is where the benefits will go.
“If the global players are based in the US, UK, or Germany, they will take the benefits to those places.
“What I will like to see is consolidation, having fewer insurance companies that have the requisite skills, the analytics, the technology and the products that people want.
“That is what will move the market from the current less than one percent penetration to at least double of that size at first, then we can get to five percent, ten percent, and more. Imagine the kind of industry we will have when the penetration gets to five percent.”
