Patrick Olatunji Oluyemi,
Tell us about your perception of MDRI and how far it has helped to reposition the insurance market?
Tindustry (a Strategic Plan) how come the document is not freely and readily available? It is like the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) not being readily available to State Governments, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, large industrialists like the Dangote Group, universities and other academic institutions, etc.! It suggests, in the first place, that there is no ownership of MDRI, in the sense of the regulator who spearheaded its preparation taking charge vigorously of its implementation, and of the operators having a buy-in into the motivation for, preparation of, and the actualisation of the Plan. The chances of the Pan succeeding in this circumstance must be slim, I think. The element of ownership of the Plan is absolutely crucial to its success. In addition, it does not seem there is any standing Committee on the lines of the Insurance Industry Consultative Committee (IICC) that is charged with carrying on an ongoing review on a regular basis to ensure that the ambitious targets and goals of the plan are really being actualised.
But what are the goals and strategies for market growth contained in MDRI?
In the absence of the original document it is not possible to examine in depth its motivations, goals and objectives. But I do recall that in terms of top line income growth MDRI set a target of N1 trillion for the insurance industry by 2012. The industry gross written premium in 2018, in reality, was a miniscule N400 billion- a far cry from this ambitious objective. There was also a stated intention inter alia of revolutionising sales channel development, by having not less than 14 classes of insurance agent- it is plain that the Nigerian insurance industry does not in 2019 have 14 categories of agents operating in it, etc.
Clearly, this cannot be all there is in the MDRI document.
Truly, these are not the only targets/performance indicators in MDRI but that is what I can recall, in the absence of documentation. It seems to be the case that if the regulator and the operators give any thought to the guide-book that MDRI is meant to be today (August 2019), it must be only slight consideration, as MDRI clearly is not top of mind. In 2017, it was announced by NAICOM that MDRI was to be reviewed and updated. I looked for evidence to confirm that steps have been taken to give effect to this stated intention, in vain. With the lapse of 8 years from launch, and given the many changes the insur
ance industry has gone through in the intervening period, and in particular the disruptive, ongoing industry changes in 2019/2020, perhaps it is time to consider setting a new Vision and Strategy for Nigeria’s insurance industry that will cover a period no longer than 5 years, say from 2020-2014. It seems that MDRI has been given a quiet, private funeral! If thereare indications that MDRI is as at the time of this interview (early August 2019) still being actively implemented, I would be pleasantly surprised to be corrected.
If you are correct in asserting that the Nigerian insurance industry effectively does not have emplaced an overarching vision and overall strategy, how may the industry go about updating MDRI, or crafting a new Vision and Strategy for Nigeria’s insurance industry, which seems for a long time to have been the poor cousin in Nigeria’s financial services industry?
We need consider first of all some foundational matters that give support to and give effect to any Plan. First there must be very wide consultation among all the arms of the industry. Whatever the forms the consultation may take, it is important to seek out the problems of the industry, especially to ascertain the root causes of the seeming industry stagnation, as well as suggestions relating to growth and supervision of the industry. This is what will ultimately ensure that there is ownership of the outcome of deliberations. In particular the opinions and concerns of the market makers in each arm of the industry must consciously be courted as they, because of their size and clout can make or mar the implementation process. The opinions
‘