Deepening insurance penetration through bancassurance

In an effort to drive efficiencies in insurance business and increase penetration in sub-Saharan Africa, leaders in the financial services industry will meet in Lagos in a special summit tagged 1st Sub-Saharan Africa Insurance, Pension and Bancassurance Summit, courtesy of West Africa Business School.

Chijioke C. Ikokwu,  director of Executive Education & International Programmes in West Africa Business School,  said the initiative seeks to provide information and useful insights on driving financial inclusion and increasing insurance and pension penetration in sub-Saharan Africa through bancassurance and microinsurance.

He said that the insurance, banking and pension industry in sub-Saharan Africa has experienced steady growth on the back of economic development, population expansion, improved regulatory environment, and increased product awareness. However, low insurance penetration, retirement needs and need for financial inclusion, despite strong underlying growth drivers, continues to offer ample opportunities to insurers, banks and pension administrators in the region.

Obasi Ngwuta, executive director, West Africa Business School, said that although the insurance and pension sector has continued its upward trend in the region, it is still relatively underdeveloped in many countries with low levels of overall market penetration.

He re-emphasised that strong economic growth, rapid development of the pension, banking and insurance sectors and an increasingly beneficial regulatory environment, have all contributed to a positive outlook for bancassurance in sub-Saharan Africa, according to recent published research reports.

Bancassurance Ngwuta said, is an emerging driving force in the insurance and pension markets around the world as banks are becoming more active in the insurance and pension space.

The summit, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, will take place between February 24th – 26th, 2015 at the Protea Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos with the theme “Shaping the Future of Insurance, Pension, and Bancassurance in Sub-Saharan Africa”.

To facilitate the summit, expert speakers from within and outside the African continent have been sourced by the West Africa Business School. Aside from CEOs and executive directors of banks, insurance companies, pension administrators, reinsurers and brokers, other participants expected at the summit include, heads of bancassurance, business strategy, channel management, marketing, product development and wealth Others are regional heads of consulting firms, law firms, financial planning & advisory firms, heads of it companies and service providers to the financial services industry and Heads of Training Institutions in the financial services industry.