The Federal Government has mandated the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to ensure that its portal saves insurance data connected to government databases in the country.
Mrs Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, gave the charge when she commissioned the NAICOM Portal recently in Abuja.
Ahmed told officials of the commission to cooperate with other agencies of government to enforce compulsory insurance in the country.
She urged stakeholders in the industry to consciously spread the reach of insurance from the major cities and few states to other regions of the country, especially the rural areas.
She called on NAICOM to ensure that low penetration in the retail end of the industry is also addressed through vigorous drive of inclusive Insurance like micro takaful.
While complaining about the low insurance penetration of 0.88 per cent contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Ahmed urged NAICOM to take advantage of the opportunities for growth in the insurance market.
She called for the development of new products based on data and customer preferences.
She also called for introduction of new channels of distribution beyond the traditional channels to reach new segments of the market
The minister urged NAICOM to look into ways of increasing its revenue through the use of technology and the portal in particular.
“NAICOM should ensure that the portal is connected to other government databases like the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) NIN Database,
“The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Passport Database, Nigeria Integrated Customs Information system, FRSC’s National Vehicle Identification System, the National Vehicle Registry, State Licensing Databases, among others should also be connected.
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“This will provide value-added services to all insurance industry stakeholders and enhance revenue generation, ” she said.
In his remark, Mr Oluwadare Thomas, the Commissioner for Insurance, said that the portal provided a platform for interconnectivity by all industry stakeholders
Thomas said that it would also support real-time aggregation of data on policies at the time of underwriting and policy issuance.
According to him, each policy will be issued with a unique policy ID that will be associated with the policy for its lifetime.
The commissioner assured that with the completion of the portal, there would be process efficiency and faster processing time as applications and supporting documents will now be submitted online
He added that applicants’ accounts would be updated with the status of the applications as they progressed, adding that there would be effective real-time communication between NAICOM and applicants.
(NAN)
