Insurance offers economic stability, we’ll support its growth, says President Buhari
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President Muhammadu Buhari has assured of the full commitment of the federal government in ensuring the growth of the insurance industry in Nigeria and Africa at large. He gave the assurance at the opening ceremony of the 47th African Insurance Organisation (AIO) conference and annual general assembly on Monday.
Speaking on the theme, “Rebuilding Africa’s Economy: An Insurance Perspective”, he noted that the insurance sector will play a vital role in the diversification of the economy by bringing in the necessary stability, economic sustainability, revenue generation, job creation, as well as financial inclusiveness, and canvassed for the right mechanism to be put in place to steer the growth on the industry.
According to the president, there is a great future for the insurance industry in Africa. “I assure you that this administration has and will continue to support insurance growth in Nigeria and Africa at large. I commend the leadership of the AIO for the resilience, foresight, and perseverance in ensuring that the African insurance market strives to meet its expectations in the global market, notwithstanding the prevailing challenges”
While he asserted that the pandemic has indeed changed many perspectives and has forced leaders across the globe to think hard for remedies, he noted that the theme of the conference was in tandem with the reality of the moment as many governments try to devise ingenious ways to manage their economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added, “I want to assure you that we in Nigeria are doing everything humanly possible to ensure a coordinated approach to the pandemic and reaching out to other African leaders on possible best options to fully revive the African economy in which I strongly believe the insurance industry has a vital role to play”
He commended the organisers for seeing to the success of the conference despite that the COVID-19 pandemic presented a global challenge that led to the lockdown of many countries, travel restrictions, and issuance of many health protocols, affecting all human, social and economic interactions that made hosting of the conference impossible in 2020.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning, also added that the foresight of the founders of the AIO deserved commendation as it had fostered African integration agenda and the best way to collectively address shortcomings whilst also urging the insurance sector to design their products around the needs of the society, especially for low-income earners, noting that a greater impact on development would only be possible by looking at the African peculiarity.
Delphine Traore, the president of AIO who also doubles as the chief operations officer, Alliance Africa, said the conference was last held in Nigeria in the year 2000, assuring that innovation in the sector would help in complementing government efforts in development.