Every year, since 1910, we have been celebrating the International Women’s Day and this year, the message is not different: Everybody should work to engender an environment where more women are given the opportunity to be relevant and contribute towards socio-economic development in our communities.
In my community – the insurance industry in Nigeria and Africa – our women have since proven that they can be relied upon for excellence, continuous improvement and impact!
They sit as CEOs and C-level executives in many leading insurance companies in Nigeria and across Africa, and extensively influence decisions that have seen many young people rise to take up challenges that were hitherto reserved for highly experienced professionals of the other gender.
Today, I see more women in the role of directing the general affairs of insurance professionals and insurance companies (including brokerage firms) in Nigeria and Africa. Interestingly, they combine brains and beauty, so you just cannot ignore them.
A day as this is dedicated to them for the many wins they continue to record and the ones we need to help them do from where we are.
It is therefore my contribution and response to this year’s Call to Action by the organisers of the International Women’s Day, that I seek for inclusion of women within the insurance community in Nigeria thus:
- National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) – The regulatory body will do better with the appointment of a Woman into its Executive Management Committee. Who knows, more women might decide to take up insurance policies if one of them is seen among the top echelon of NAICOM;
- Board and Executive Management of Insurance Companies – More women should be appointed into key executive management roles in insurance companies especially the leading insurers in Nigeria. The industry will perform differently and in the right direction going by what we’ve seen the Professional Insurance Ladies do. Nothing says an insurance company cannot have three or four of them on the Board or in Executive Management besides injecting them as Company Secretaries and Legal Advisers;
- Women-oriented Insurance Products – Are there insurance companies that have tailor-made products to address the specific needs of women? I haven’t heard of any yet, and wonder what we are still waiting for given the high rate of maternal mortality during and after childbirth in our country. How many women even have insurance coverages? I am still working to get such data.
- More regulation to ease the inclusion of women in insurance in Nigeria – I think this is the assignment I will call for most of our successful Professional Insurance Ladies to deliberately undertake. They can influence and encourage more women to get into the C-level through ongoing efforts to reset the insurance industry to respond better to the changing behaviours of existing and potential insurance policyholders; and
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – While it would seem easy to identify the Nine Goals that are insurance related, it is evident to me that our women will do a better job at connecting the insurance industry in Nigeria with those goals and vice versa. For example, Health Insurance would respond to the goal that relates to healthcare for children and the rest of us, and I will argue that the women will do better here than the menfolk.
This day will pass but we should not allow the import of the theme, #InspireInclusion to wane off especially as we engage with the insurance industry in Nigeria and Africa.
Next time I am buying an insurance policy, I’ll check the percentage of women among the board, management and staff of the insurance company to ensure they are promoting gender-balance, otherwise I’ll move on. Do the same because you want to #InspireInclusion!
I look forward to your comments and questions.
I remain…
Assuredly Yours,
