Mr. Tunde Hassan-Odukale

Managing Director/CEO

Leadway Assurance Company Limited

Leadway Assurance Company Limited has advised businesses, organisations and individuals to consider cyber risks as crucial in their day-to-day operations for the purpose of protection from hackers.

Speaking recently on “Understanding Cyber Insurance” at a Virtual training workshop organised by Leadway Assurance for Insurance journalists, Uzodinma Ibe of the Casualty & Liability Underwriting, General Insurance, said with increased online and Internet connectivity becoming part of our day to day business, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, there is need for protection against cyber attacks.

He said a comprehensive report by a United Kingdom (UK) cybersecurity company, identified that there was high traffic when it comes to information, transactions and data emanating from Nigeria into digital space, adding that the survey noted that 36 per cent of Nigerian organizations suffered cyber attacks in the last twelve months.

Uzodinma also said that 64 per cent of Cyber attacks in Nigeria exploited misconfigurations on the organization servers, pointing out that Nigeria has the highest data Leakage in the world.

On business activities, social networking and governmental activities, he said the report has also identified where Nigeria as a digital hub is and to what extent are their cyber exposures.

In order to avoid cyber attacks on our computer networks, which sometimes resulted into data and financial losses, there is a need for enterprises, individuals, corporate organisations, to see it as a serious business and take up some form of cyber mitigating effort in this regard.

According to him, “here in Leadway, through our research we have been able to identify a particular area of cyber exposure where corporate entities can find themselves and see how we can do proper risk management and provide specific insurance product that can help them mitigate such exposures through Cyber Risk Management Insurance which in some quarters called Cyber Liability Insurance and in some, Cyber Risk Management Insurance.

“We have been able to highlight that technology, social media and transactions over the internet (cyber platforms) play a key role in how most organisations conduct business and reach out to prospective customers today. These vehicles have gateways – platforms, integrations that cyber attackers often use.

From Leadway point of view, our Cyber Enterprise Risk Management Insurance Policies try to help any organization mitigate risk exposure for a certain cost expenses involve with recovery after a cyber-related security breach or similar event.

On who is being indemnified or who is being provided cover, he explained that Leadway Cyber Insurance provides first-party coverage and third-party liability risk covers against cyber-attacks for organizations.

“First party which is the policyholder, the individual or that corporate entity that buys the insurance, such policy caters for private investigation expenses where there is some form of data compromise or breach to reach out to different customers to inform them of the breach.

“Third-party liability coverage indemnify companies for losses to others caused, for example, by errors and omissions, failure to safeguard data, or defamation; and other benefits including regular security-audit, post-incident public relations and investigative expenses, and criminal reward funds.

“Risks of this nature are typically excluded from traditional commercial general liability policies or at least are not specifically defined in traditional insurance products. Most people believe that only large-scale industries, such as banks only need cyber security insurance. However, any electronic information such as your name, email, contact number, financial records, medical records, payment information, government documentation, etc., stored in your personal devices can be easily and quickly hacked by a genius hacker,” he explained.

“Cyber-insurance is a specialty lines insurance product intended to protect businesses, and individuals providing services for such businesses, from Internet-based risks, and more generally from risks relating to information technology infrastructure, information privacy, information governance liability, and activities related thereto,” he pointed out.

Cecilia Osipitan

Managing Director/CEO

Great Nigeria Insurance Plc

Great Nigeria Insurance Plc (GNI) has continued to affirm its willingness and capacity to honour all genuine claims as and when due.

The company, in its quarterly release of the total claims paid showed it had obligated a total sum of N501, 591,032.61, (Five hundred and One Million, Five Hundred and Ninety-One Thousand, Thirty-Two Naira, Sixty-One Kobo) to various insured spread across the country. The organisation is a composite entity licensed to underwrite both Life and Non-Life insurance businesses.

In a statement, the company’s Spokesperson and Corporate Communications & Brand Manager, Oyinkansola Sobande, said that GNI does not pay lips service to settlement of genuine claims when they occur.

She however, stated that the claims experience so far has been very alarming which she attributed to the downturn in the economy. According to her, “every insured wants to claim at every given opportunity which impacted the claims figure since the occurrence of the pandemic.”

The summary of the claims composition paid in the first quarter of 2021, shows that Group Life had the highest figure of N422 million while General Insurance business totalled N79 million. Under the Non-Life business: Fire ranked first with total claims settled of N32.2 million while General Accident recorded N25.8 million.

The total sum of N12 million was paid as claims on Motor Insurance, Engineering gulped N6.7 million, Oil and Gas Insurance stood at N1.1 million with Marine Insurance closing the figures with N0.96 million.

While commenting on the intent of the organisation as regards claims settlement, the Managing Director/CEO of GNI, Mrs. Cecilia O. Osipitan had this to say:

“There is no compromise to claims settlement in Great Nigeria Insurance Plc because the major focus of the company is to ensure that our customers get to enjoy the benefits of taking out any form of insurance policy with us through prompt settlement of their claims when the need arises. That to us, is the only way to prove that we are well and alive to our responsibilities as an Underwriting Firm in the country. We intend to uphold this obligation and we will continually strive to make good our promise at all times to delight our esteemed customers.”

Osipitan further stated that the company has put in place a friendly-claim-process with the major aim of putting smiles on the faces of its various customers across the country by ensuring that claims are settled within the shortest period possible on completion of all necessary documentation.

“Our commitment to uphold our Vision and Mission has made the company one of the country’s most relevant and responsive insurance companies in the country. Great Nigeria Insurance Plc is no doubt a formidable force to reckon with in the Nigerian insurance landscape with a network of offices spread across locations in the country buoyed by cutting-edge technology in delivering seamless and convenient insurance service to all teeming customers in the country and beyond.”

Mr. O. S. Thomas

Commissioner for Insurance/CEO

National Insurance Commission

The Executive Committee of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) has finally announced that the 47^th Conference and Annual General Assembly of the AIO will hold in Lagos, Nigeria from September 4-8, 2021.

The Committee said in a communiqué that the improvement in the global situation of the Covid-19 pandemic through mass vaccination around the world in addition to lifting of travel and gathering restrictions has made it possible to hold the conference.

The confab was earlier scheduled for 2020 but was later postponed due to the global pandemic outbreak.

Mr. Tunde Hassan-Odukale

Managing Director/CEO

Leadway Assurance Company Limited

Leadway Assurance Company Limited says Nigerian insurers must develop and deploy digital channels and focus on the need of customers to generate sustainable growth their brand in the future.

Speaking on the topic “Insurance For The Future In 2021” at the virtual training for insurance journalists organised by Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Mr. Akinyemi Alebiosu, Principal Investment and Strategy,  Leadway Assurance Limited, said that underwriting in the future is going to be driven by data.

According to Alebiosu, if companies have proper data, they can predict incidents of loss and properly price it.

He said: “Data is the new oil and underwriting in the future is going to be driven by data and analytics. We are getting to a point where we will be using historical records, using robotics, artificial intelligence in making decisions of pricing, type and extent of risks we take.

“Insurance companies of the future will seek to collect large pools of data, analyse it, try to make meaning of it, prepare or create predictive models, at the end of the day make decisions that will make the product better. For example, in analysing the data, I want to know the pain point of our customers, what is their biggest concern, how am I able to create products that meet these needs at the lowest cost because if I have a proper data I can predict incidents of loss and properly price it and also know what their price point is. So at the end of the day if we use data and analytics correctly in our underwriting process, the customer will be happy, the underwriter will be happy and all the stakeholders will benefit from the insurance ecosystem.”

Alebiosu stated that digital channels will soon displace insurance agents despite their current dominance of the market.

“Insurance is largely driven by agents and brokers; it is only a matter of time that the digital platforms will outnumber insurance agents in the distribution of insurance. So for insurance companies of tomorrow, for insurance products, we need to consciously gravitate from directly selling to customers to creating digital channels that are customer friendly and customer centric.

“For example, if I want to buy insurance, I don’t need to call somebody, I just go to the website, I can find what I need and make a purchase. We need to be able to meet our customers over the social media, because they want to send us messages and get instant answer. Social media is also an avenue for customer education. If we compare the number of Nigerians on social media and the number of Nigerians that have insurance, you will see that we have a very long way to go.”

He said that Leadway is a solution based company, adding “We want to see your problems, your risks and we want to solve them.”

Executive Director, General Business, Leadway Assurance Limited, Ms. Adetola Adegbayi  implored Nigerians to embrace insurance, stressing that insurance remains a key source of raising fund to carter for risks.

She noted that Leadway Assurance over the years has being providing happiness to the insuring public through prompt payment of claims.

Mr. Olaotan Soyinka

Managing Director/CEO

Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc

In spite of the challenging operating environment that characterised operations of most businesses in the country in 2020 which was largely due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the seeming lull in the insurance sector in the year, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has once again put up a commendable performance in the year under review when compared with the company’s performance in 2019.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the underwriting firm, Mr. Olaotan Soyinka said the development is an encouraging one considering the level of work that was put in place in 2020.

It is quite interesting to note that the company recorded a leap of 37% in its Profit After Tax of N687 million as against N503 million recorded in year 2019.  The Gross Premium Written in 2020 stood at N11.1 billion compared to the N10.8 billion written in 2019, representing a marginal increase of 2%.

Another interesting highlight of the 2020 accounts which could be described as heart-warming is the rise in the company’s total assets from N13.4 billion to N14.8 billion in 2020 representing 11% increase.

As the company grew its balance sheet in 2020, so did it also increase its claims payout. In 2020, a total of N3.48 billion was paid as claims against N2.2 billion that was paid in 2019. This in a way underscores the company’s claims paying ability coupled with the company’s renewed attention at delighting our customers.The net premium income also grew by 10% from N5.9 billion to N6.5 billion in 2020.

The Managing Director while briefing newsmen in Lagos said the management of the company is committed to meeting and surpassing the expectations and aspirations of its shareholders and stakeholders alike.

“These performance levels are a confirmation of the management’s determination to effectively and strategically position the company as one of the leading insurance companies in the country while at the same time, propel the company to a profitable height for shareholders’ delight” in the years ahead.

Mr. Daniel Braie

Managing Director/CEO

Linkage Assurance Plc

Linkage Assurance Plc has released its 2020 audited financial result, posting a Gross Premium Written of N8.3 billion, an increase of 28 percent YoY from N6.5 billion in 2019, while total assets also rose by 18 percent YoY in 2020 to N33.9 billion, compared to N28.7 billion in 2019.

The company also witnessed significant improvement in other indices, with underwriting profit growing by 102 percent, from N0.4 billion in 2019 to N0.8 billion at the end of 2020,and this according to the company was as result improvement in core business activities on the backdrop of healthy business underwriting decisions, reinsurance optimisation and efficient claims management process.

Notwithstanding the irrepressible impact of COVID-19 pandemic on economic landscape, the Company remained resilient, recoding a  profit before tax of N2.5 billion, compared to N1.3 billion in 2019 representing 89 percent YoY growth, while profit after tax was N2.4 billion, increasing by 65 percent from N1.5 billion in 2019.

From this profit and committed to delighting its shareholders,  Linkage Assurance will be proposing for approval at her Annual General Meeting (AGM) a bonus share issue amounting to N2 billion (of 4 billion ordinary shares at 50k per share) and a cash dividend of N0.05 per share (amounting to N500 million), to existing shareholders.

In his remark, the MD/CEO, Daniel Braie, said the company’s outstanding performance was hinged, amongst others, on activation of a robust Business Continuity Management (BCM) Plan during COVID-19 lockdown which stimulated continued customers’ interaction, retention, engagement, and satisfaction.

He also emphasised that, as a leading player in the Nigerian Insurance Industry, the Company is well positioned to provide sustainable insurance solutions to the varying needs of the market through its strong capital base, innovative products, and digital platforms.

“Our strategy is to consistently grow our revenue and deliver strong returns and excellent customer experience, while leveraging on technology, strategic alliances, and capabilities to provide world-class insurance & risk management solutions.

“Our guiding principles are our core values and vision. They underpin our desires, ambitions and aspirations aimed at reinforcing the trust of our stakeholders.”

“We will continue to refine our strategy in line with the political, economic, sociological, and technological changes in the industry particularly the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the business landscape. We will also continue to develop innovative products, alternative channels of distributions and strategic initiatives that will enable us to achieve our corporate goals and objectives. With a medium-to-long term perspective, we believe that the Company will have improved growth from these initiatives.”

As a socially responsible organisation, we embarked on Corporate Social Responsibilities with a view to supporting our community and enhancing stakeholders’ engagement, Braie said.

“In line with our corporate ambition, we will continue to leverage on technology, committed workforce and strong capital base to increase market share, enhance corporate visibility, and achieve operational excellence towards a more viable and successful company.”