Quote from Emmanuel Awopetu on June 2, 2021, 3:00 PM

Today, I received good response on a piece I wrote on the 30th of March 2021 as it has come to life. HeirsInsurance, owned by Heirs holdings, today was commissioned with Lagos state Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu in attendence.

The implication of this move is that the Insurance sector is going to see more structure, because as the players increase, there would be tighten regulation for sanity. However, this is of greater advantage to the InsureTech players as they now have more Traditional players which could serve as alternative for the acquisition of license.

Right below is the article I wrote earlier with the prediction that as come to life.

ARTICLE

With all in the race to tap into the wealth at the bottom of the pyramid, many have seen technology-enabled solution as a crucial way to implement ideas that would transform the society with it a rich innovative prospect. Emerging market, although sluggish, are not left behind when compared to their counterpart in advanced nations who have tapped into the wealth of data available and are constantly digging mines of knowledge that could keep their nation in relevance.

Earlier, it made the news that Nigeria financial technology company for the underserved, Bankly, raised $2million (900 million naira with N450 as exchange rate). To many like me, this didn’t come as surprise because, in 2018, I wrote after Mastercard partnered School of fletcher sponsored research discovered that nearly 97 per cent of transactions in the nation is cash-based. This alarming statistic has in it lots of indications and implications which includes, a low level of digital finance literacy, distrust in this innovation by holders of cash, low standard of living, poor penetration of information to the masses and low access to quality financial services which would limit the number of individuals who rise above the poverty line.

Covid-19 pandemic is evil as lives were lost, but regardless of cumulative ill and global disruption, it showed key things that were hidden to many- which is the informal sector matters a lot. Due to uncertainty of the nature of the disease-Corona virus- and how to manage the havoc it made on a global level; major business activities were shut down to curtail it rage. Yet, with all the strict measures to limit human movement the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SMEs) had no choice but to continue operations having a noble title Essential worker because they served as bulk breakers and have direct access to the final users.

With all this in mind, large co-operations have taken it has their pressing call of duty to seek means which will enable their product of easy access to every household. And to do these there is a need to empower the SMEs because they are key in the chain of commerce. Bankly, a young and dynamic technology-powered financial service provider has had to raise cash in other to bring order to this chaotic highly important sector. The Flutterwave led investment portfolio seeks to achieve high financial inclusion which would see a massive onboarding of business outlet that uses local trusted financial service provider who has proven themselves over time to be very reliable.

Furthermore, Today, an Artificial Intelligence technology-enabled Insurance service provider for claims and fraud management raised funds with the intentions to attain inclusion. This company, which is no new name to traditional fat cats like AXA Mansard, Old Mutual is seeking ways to reduce the $12 billion fraud-ridden industry which is filled with deceitful and abusive claims which cost insurers a lot. To expand its operations beyond Nigeria its country of origin into ten (10) other African countries, Curacel, which presently serves 800 hospital- pain point is this because of the largeness of the market- has raised $450,000 led by Atlantica Ventures and Consonance with participation from Kepple Ventures and other African angel investors.

My Prediction: The damage incurred by Nigerians during the endsars saga, where many shops were looted by hoodlums to hijack the peaceful protest, would cause a shift in perspective on how insurance is viewed knowing that you are just one incident away from poverty.

I believe that there would be a considerable number of onboarding of citizen of the continents which would account for a rise of well above the current 2.8 per cent penetration rate. But, for this to crystallize, players with intentions for market share should know their customers so well that they tailor services that are fit for them- Customer-centric.

If pressure mounts for AfCFTA, many other InsureTech companies would spring forth but would-be sector-focused like Zido for logistics.

For Your Information: Access bank has eyes in transiting into a holding financial institution which enables it open subsidiaries in insurance brokerage and payment which will make it battle-ready for Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Other players in the InsureTech sector are Zido Inc. led by Samuel Akinniyi Ajiboyede, but unlike the others, it’s a logistics focused firm that makes them not accessible to all for inclusion.