AIICO Insurance canvasses digital sales to boost insurance penetration

By Cynthia Ezekwe.

AIICO Insurance Plc has advocated increased digital sales of insurance products and services to boost insurance penetration in Africa’s largest economy.

The insurance, pensions management, and asset management group noted that Nigeria has an insurance penetration rate of 0.5 per cent, an abysmal performance, given the population of over 200 million people, who would inspire a booming insurance industry under the right circumstances.

AIICO said the 0.5 per cent insurance penetration in the country indicates a low insurance sector contribution to the national economy, which is seen as one of the worst insurance contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the African continent.

Against this backdrop, AIICO averred  that the major mechanism in closing this gap is digital sales of insurance products, to boost the growth of the sector.

Olusanjo Shodimu, chief digital & innovation officer of AIICO Insurance,  while speaking at the annual training for members of Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) sponsored by AIICO Insurance in Lagos, stated that insurance should be sold through channels that are  accessible to prospects.

Shodimu lamented  over the poor penetration of insurance in the the largest African economy with a GDP of 440 billion USD (2021) and the most populous African country with over 200 million people

“The major mechanism in closing this gap is digital sales of insurance products. Insurance should be sold through channels that are ubiquitous and accessible to prospects. The adult population is either on social media or surfing the web and they use their mobile phones to perform these activities,” he noted.