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Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mutual Benefits Life Assurance Limited, Femi Asenuga(left) his wife, Debo; Chairman, Mutual Benefits Group, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi; outgoing General Evangelist, Christ Apostolic Church, Prophet Dr. Samuel Kayode Abiara; his wife, Grace Abiara; wife of Chairman, Mutual Benefit, Mrs. Dotun Akinbiyi; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Segun Omosehin; his wife, Modupe, during the Mutual Benefits’ 23rd yearly thanksgiving service in Lagos .
“At 0.3 per cent, Nigeria, has a staggering low insurance penetration in comparison to counterpart markets in Africa. South Africa has 14.7 per cent; Kenya 2.8 per cent and Angola 0.8 per cent penetration rate,” he said.
Duru pointed out that even with an estimated population of over 196 million people and a growing middle class, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) had reported that only 1.8 million of the over 96 million adult population have any form of insurance.
According to him, the 2018 industry report on Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) by Agusto & Co. had shown the low level of health insurance coverage in Nigeria, which was estimated to be at 5.1 per cent.
“What this means is that in event of an unexpected health challenge, many Nigerians will have to rely on out-of-pocket expenses to settle their medical care.
“This is not far from reality as there has been a rising case of Nigerians resorting to online crowd funding campaigns to foot the huge bills of severe medical conditions, a situation which ideally insurance would protect against, “he stated.
He said for business owners operating in Nigeria’s tough economic and policy climate, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) had reported said that only 35 per cent of SMEs have a form of insurance to protect against business risks.
The company’s Marketing Executive, Alero Ladipo, added: “When we compare Nigeria to other emerging markets, we have discovered that Nigerians are yet to fully grasp the importance of embracing insurance to mitigate the financial loss caused by risks that abound.
By having this knowledge of insurance, we believe Nigerians will be able to make sound financial choices for their families and businesses.”
