Victor Ezeja
Admin
The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has pointed out that the insurance sector of Nigeria’s economy needs a younger and more agile workforce, regretting that young Nigerians are unfortunately not interested in the industry.
Prime Business Africa reports that he stated this on Monday during the 2023 national insurance conference while speaking on the theme: “Redefining Safety: Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings and Buildings under Construction.”
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He observed that although the demographics of Nigeria puts the young population in the majority, “the insurance sector is not attractive to them in the way banking, oil and gas, fast moving consumer goods, IT/Technology, creative areas like Nollywood etc and other sectors are.”
Elumelu maintained that it is time to refresh the workforce mix in this sector, adding that the youth must be attracted into the sector for the sake of their energy, ideas, and the creativity.
He pointed out that these are needed to take the insurance industry to the next level as the youth turned around the banking, telco, creative sectors of the Nigerian economy. “I chose my career in banking largely because of the professionals I saw in banking when I was growing up and I aspired to be like one of them,” he said.
The Chairman of UBA Group further identified the following as reasons for the poor insurance culture and low insurance penetration in Nigeria: “Poor legislation that does not allow proper enforcement of insurance laws, including enforcement of compulsory insurance.
“Inefficient Insurance processes especially around settlement of claims which fosters the public’s lack of confidence and trust in insurers. Insurance regulatory framework. The mindset of insurance practitioners in Nigeria. And poor capitalisation requirements in the insurance.”
