If the various efforts being made to restructure and develop the Nigerian insurance market are properly implemented, the industry should be generating premium income of N6 trillion in 2012, Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, has said.

Daniel, who was presenting a paper entitled "Achieving The FSS 2020 Objectives" at a seminar in Lagos, stated that an eight-year plan codenamed "Nigeria Insurance Market Development and Restructuring Initiatives (MDRI)" has been put in place to change the fortunes of the nation's insurance industry.

He said "These efforts are expected to transform the Nigerian insurance industry gross premium income from $1 billion (N117 billion) in 2007, to $8.70 billion (N1 trillion) in 2010 and $25.64 billion (N3 trillion) in 2011 and $51.28 billion (N6.0trillion) in 2012."

The objectives of the project, according to him, are to build confidence in the nation's insurance system, to promote public understanding of the insurance mechanism, to secure the right level of protection for the policyholders and to reduce the potential for insurance firms to be used for financial crimes.

In the first stage, he said the items that are being championed by the regulatory authority in the industry, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), include enforcement of the insurance covers made compulsory by law, wiping out of fake insurance institutions, sanitization of the insurance agency system and introduction of risk-based supervision.

The World Bank is also championing items such as capacity building, which include training on "Insurance Inspection Basics" and "Financial Services Cross-sector Knowledge." Other projects by the bank aimed at ensuring effective supervision-on-site and off-site monitoring, good corporate governance rules for insurance directors and enhance proper education among insurance consumers.

He further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Finance on its part, will be concerned with the review of the laws governing insurance practice, while also making sure that all assets of the government are adequately insured.

The operators in the industry though the FSS 2020 Implementation Committee under the Chairmanship of Bala Zakariya'u, are saddled with the responsibility to take the insurance industry to a position that it will be able to protect, drive and stimulate the growth of all the other sectors of the economy.

He added that the committee is also expected to work towards making the insurance market the leader in nation's financial services sector and make the industry occupy a position of strategic importance in Africa.

The market development sub-committee under the FSS 2020 required to achieve enhanced capacity and enhanced premium volume for the industry are to identify the state of the enabling environment (External), the industry specific factors (internal), the internationally recognized legal framework, the Accounting standards and solvency rules necessary for the development of the nation's insurance market.

Additionally, the sub-committee under the chairmanship of T. A. Sanusi, Vice President, Nigeria Council Of Registered Insurance Brokers isto identify new insurance markets, put in place the structure for their growth and develop the appropriate products for the mass market insurances.

Besides, Ezekiel Chiejina, Director-General, Nigerian Insurers Association, is heading a sub-committee whose task is to establish the modalities to transfer substantial part of monitoring to the private sector to the operators and to the managers and foster an environment where all parties play active roles in improving the efficiency of the market.

Chiejina led committee is also expected to stipulate and monitor the investment of each market operator in ICT, manpower development and draw up financial services cross-sector, training for all the operators.