Ojumah, FBN Insurance Boss Highlights Opportunities in Non -Oil Sector

Stories by Ebere Nwoji

Huge business opportunities exist for the insurance sector in the non- oil sector of the economy in the light of current economic downturn largely brought about by the plummeting oil prices.

This observation was made by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, FBN Insurance Limited, Mr. Val Ojumah.

Ojumah, who spoke at the professional forum of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, noted that the crash in crude oil prices is not a new phenomenon as it tends to happen at least once in a decade.

“Just as in the 80s, crude oil prices have declined from 2014 to 2016 triggering sustained fall in Nigeria’s GDP growth over the same period.

He said other economic indices too have shown the same decline”, adding that Nigerians must note that economies usually go through a boom-gloom-recovery-boom cycle.
He also said insurance professionals must highlight key trends in each phase for strategic planning purposes if they want to remain profitable and relevant in their line of business.

Ojumah, in his presentation at the forum titled, Non-Oil Sector and Opportunities for Insurance, highlighted three critical strategic imperatives that are important for the survival and sustained growth of the industry.
These, according to him include product innovation, refocused distribution strategy and improved service delivery.

According to him, any practitioner worth his competence must make these three a core of his strategy.
He added that execution may vary from company to company but that the basics are pretty the same.

He said tough times require smarter and more consumer-focused strategies, charging insurance operators to innovate or miss out.
Re-evaluate your distribution strategy or remain stuck in yesterday. Improve your services or lose out to competition. The choice is yours,” Ojumah concluded.

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