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Insurance experts in the private sector in Nigeria have advised insurance and pension operators in Nigeria to provide essential incentives to attract people in the informal sector to embrace micro insurance and micro pension plans.
The Director General/Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Chinyere Almona, delivered a paper titled: “Onboarding MSMEs into Micro Insurance and Pension Space in Nigeria,” at the 7th edition conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE), held in Lagos. Dr Chinyere Almona highlighted that the insurance and pension sectors have been doing a lot in driving the financial inclusion initiative of the Federal Government. However, there was a need to incentivise and encourage those in the informal sector to help nano, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) operators to embrace micro-insurance and join the micro pension plan.
She called on underwriters and pension administrators to take advantage of opportunities that abound in the MSME sector, such as employment opportunities, expanding distribution channels, favourable regulatory environment, a mature financial services sector, and a revolution in information technology and digital innovations.
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The total number of employees in MSMEs stood at 61.9 million representing 87.9 per cent of the total labour force in the country. The number of employment generated in the informal sector was 16 million while the formal sector generated 7.5 million in 2020. For promoting the penetration of insurance products in the informal sector, greater awareness, campaigns, and technological innovations are needed. This would provide a safety net at retirement, align with the current social empowerment programmes, and minimises old-age poverty, besides Improving the standard of living for the elderly
