Experts in insurance and Information Technology(IT) sectors have stressed the importance of big data and Artificial Intelligence(AI) to drive insurance growth and provide exceptional services to policyholders across the Nigeria and beyond.
With virtually every process now driven by technology as well as the readily available data of people through increased tech adoption, they said, it is high time insurance industry latched onto this information pool to tailor products and services to meet the needs of the people.
This, they said, would automatically update some of the obsolete data that insurance stakeholders are using to project the future and the needs of their customers. This, they stressed, would equally improve product offering and services that insurance industry currently provides.
Speaking at the 2022 Insurance Meet Tech(IMT) conference organised by Modion Communications Limited in Victoria Island, Lagos, at the weekend, the Country manager, Microsoft, Ola Williams, charged insurers to collaborate with relevant stakeholders and sectors such as IT, banking, transportation, among others by making use of their available data to enhance insurance products and service deliveries.
Doing this, he said, would require the dedication and cooperation of regulators of these sectors to provide the available information for the use of insurance industry, saying, partnership is key to achieving this.
Similarly, she said, operators too must be ready to adopt the processed data from the regulators, if truly, they are serious about deepening insurance penetration and acceptance in the country.
She stressed that ” there are currently readily available information through increased internet connectivity and Artificial Intelligence on individual and corporate organisations on what each and everyone wants through studying the pattern of their operations.
“Insurance companies could use these information to enhance products delivery which must be simple and flexible and should also address some of the emerging risks that people are now exposed to. These data will also be useful in adequate product pricing to ensure that the right rates are charged on products to ensure that underwriters continue to pay claims as and when due.”
While urging insurance industry to take the lead in formulation, collation and  utilisation of the readily available data through partnership with regulatory agencies from other sectors of the economy by leveraging their data system to enhance Insurance offerings, she said, the industry should emulate its counterparts in South Africa and other developed economy in their usability of data to solve risk exposure of individual and corporates  , a development, she said, is critical to tap the untapped insurance market in the country.
Similarly, the co-founder, MotoMarket Limited, Mr. Arif Bolarinwa said, there are regulatory barriers and bureaucracy  to harvesting and harmonisation of data in the country, which he said, has caused a setback in insurance adoption of even the compulsory ones.
Narrating the ordeal his company went through to finally able to create database for states and linking it up with insurance industry in a bid to improve motor insurance adoption and enforcement, he highlighted regulatory bottleneck and unreadiness of insurers to change, as issues beclouding insurance consumption in the country.
This, he said, must be addressed head on, such that, insurers can know the exact number of vehicles on the roads in each states, frequency of accidents, driving pattern, number of women drivers, and so on which would be critical to enhance Insurance products and services, and adoption in the country.
The new chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association(NIA), Mr. Segun Omosehin, assured that there has been improvement in adoption of technology to drive operations of insurance companies in the country, a development that was excerberated by Covid-19.
Omosehin, who is also the managing director/CEO of Old Mutual Nigeria, stated that, though, there is the need for insurance operators to begin to use these technologies to process data that would be useful for the industry, he added that, NIA has been partnering with relevant stakeholders to enhance the data of insurance industry.
Earlier, the convener and the chief executive officer(CEO) of Modion Communications, Mr. Modion Aleobua, said, he believes in the potential of insurance to redefine the collective assets’ risk management and wealth transfer capabilities in Nigeria, which was the reason behind the first edition of the Insurance Meet Tech(IMT) conference.
“As an emerging economy, there is a pertinent need for robust risk management capabilities to provide financial security to our ever threatened and fledging investments, which have been beaten thin by rising inflation numbers,” he said.
To this end, the IMT conference, he said, is an era and industry-defining discourse to accelerate the adoption of tech innovations and digitilisation in Nigeria’s insurance sector.
Being an ardent supporter of technology and digitisation, which he believes enables accelerated and disruptive changes to industries, Aleobua said, he is more convinced of the potentiality of insuretech to revolutionalise the industry in terms of customer service delivery, product management, claims management, underwriting proficiency and most importantly, simplifying access.
“In the light of this, we are convening the IMT 2022 to spark collaborative conversations leading to alliances that would transform the face of underwriting in Nigeria. IMT attempts to break this long-standing spell of sectorial immobility, riding on the waves of new and applicable technology. We are convinced that insurtech can propel the sector towards wealth creation and economic stability.
“The conference, going forward and which will be annual, will provide answers to question on; how can processes be simplified, have a risk-reflective pricing build-up, evolve product development leveraging big data and artificial intelligence and elevate the underwriting experience to match global standards?” he pointed out.
