Insurance companies in Nigeria will not sack their staff as a means of survival like the banks did recently. Banks such as First Bank, Skye Bank, Diamond Bank, FCMB and Ecobank recently sacked thousands of their staff in a bid to survive the current economic downturn in the country.
Mr. GUS Wiggle, Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association [NIA] declared in Lagos yesterday that no insurance company operating in the country will follow the example of the banks, saying retrenchment of staff is not the right way to survive.
“Insurance companies will not sack workers. We don’t think it should be the best survival approach. In times like these, your best friend is insurance,” Wiggle declared.
He said the strategy of insurers is to continuously educate people to buy insurance to hedge against tough times and reduce waste.
The NIA chairman expressed optimism that the new flexible forex regime by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] will impact favourably on marine insurance, given that imports have virtually grounded to a halt presently as businesses struggle to access foreign exchange to run their operations.
“We are in a very challenging time. No sector of the economy is finding it impressive. We hope that the new flexible forex rule by the CBN will help improve marine insurance going forward.”
Wiggle expressed sadness over the inability of many insurance firms to pay dividend to their shareholders.
“We feel sad that our shareholders are not benefitting from their investment. The problem is the stringent conditions under which we operate. Part of it is poor pricing. We may not be charging adequate premium. We are also victims of fraudulent claims by some insured persons.”
