AIICO Insurance Plc topped the industry’s market chart with N62 billion gross premium written (GWP) in the 2020 financial year end, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Babatunde Fajemirokun has said.
GWP is the total premium written by an insurer before deductions for reinsurance and ceding commissions. It includes additional and/or return premiums.
He made this known at a briefing at the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) conference in Lagos.
Fajemirokun, who said this was the highest gross written premium recorded in the sector, noted that the company is not resting on its oars to sustain the feat.
He said the company is ready to explore insurance opportunities across East and West Africa and in Nigeria to maximise the gains from a new concept known as embedded Insurance.
He said: “The firm has revised its vision and the board has given the management the approval to look beyond Nigeria’s insurance space and explore opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Despite that Nigeria has one of the lowest penetration rates in Africa, we still believe that, in terms of our business models to improve the level of diversification, is important to look outside. We are still very much at preliminary stages, but we are reviewing other markets to see the opportunities for us to expand into those markets but we have not concluded yet.
“Our view is that when we looked at other digital places that have come into Nigeria in digital banking at various other segments, we found out that one of the reasons they are getting their valuations is because it is an African thing. If you look at markets such as Kenya and other markets in east Africa, there is a lot of innovation in those markets. Kenya, for instance, has one of biggest in terms of digital instruments. It will be good to explore some of these types of opportunities in those markets.”
He submitted that the firm is looking at East Africa and West Africa, adding that there are opportunities for the firm to explore in those markets.
Divisional Head, Shared Services, AIICO Insurance Plc, Olusanjo Shodimu, said the firm is also enlarging its frontiers in the retail marketplace through embedded underwriting.
“We have adopted two approaches to manage micro insurance. What we are doing is seeking partnership by identifying people operating within the space of business we want to do. There is a new concept called embedded insurance, that is partnering people with large customer base and putting insurance on their platforms,” he added.
