L-R: Welfare Officer, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Williams Grace; Publisher, Business Journal, Prince Cookey; Treasurer, ISAN, Vitalis Anyiam; General Secretary, Eke Chibuzo; Publisher, SuperNews, Ngozi Onyeakusi; National Coordinator, Moses Igbrude; Publisher Inspenonline, Chuks Udo Okonta; Publisher, Bislad News, Bisi Bamishe; Assistant Financial Secretary, Wahab Ajani and Insurance & Pension Editor, Nation Newspaper, Omobola Tolu-Kusimo when the EXCO of Insurance & Pension Editors of Nigeria (IPEN) paid a courtesy visit to ISAN yesterday in Lagos.
The Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has described as pathetic the acquisition of local insurance firms by foreign conglomerates under the aegis of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), saying it portends bad omen for sustainable growth of the Nigerian insurance industry as well as the investment interest of shareholders.
Mr. Moses Igbrude, the National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) made the call when the EXCO of the Insurance & Pension Editors of Nigeria (IPEN) paid a courtesy visit to ISAN in Lagos yesterday.
Moses, who expressed worry over the development, lamented that the foreign investors are taking advantage of the nation’s bad economy, undervalued insurance stocks and poor exchange rate.
The ISAN Boss said: “Our economy is so bad that most of our insurance stocks are undervalued, our exchange rate is so poor, such that, only a million dollars will translate to N700 million, and if you have N700 million, you can buy and have a major stake in insurance companies.”
Stating that not all Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) was good for the Nigerian economy, he noted that some of the portfolio investors come to take advantage of our weak laws and economy.
“What they do is to buy into insurance firms and delist them from the Stock Exchange, hence becoming a private business and then hide them from the eyes of the government and the next thing, you wouldn’t hear about the companies again,” he said.
Acknowledging the fact that there are still good investors, he appealed to the insurance industry regulatory body, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to allow only genuine investors into the industry, even as he urged the Commission to put in place processes to checkmate activities of the fake foreign investors to protect the local insurance sector.
Earlier in his presentation, the President of IPEN, Mr. Chuks Udo Okonta said the purpose of IPEN’s courtesy visit to ISAN was to seek a cordial media relationship with the Association as well as give the shareholders the opportunity to assess the performance of their investment in the insurance industry.
Okonta promised that IPEN as a body of insurance and pension editors is ready to reshape the two sectors through developmental journalism.
