To Celebrate Inspiring Business leaders driving Nigeria’s Economic growth Chioma kachi Ewelike sat with the professional par excellence in person of Mr Akinlolu Akinyele Managing Director of IGI Insurance Plc to discuss Business so far.
1. Can you share some insights into your journey to becoming one of Nigeria’s leading figures in the finance industry?
My journey has taught me that leadership is less about occupying a position and more about accepting responsibility for what happens to the people and institutions entrusted to you. Integrity, continuous learning and the courage to make difficult decisions have been the principles that have guided me throughout my career.
I have had the opportunity to work serving diverse market segments taking me across Africa and Europe, and each experience has shaped my understanding of what it takes to build institutions that can survive beyond individuals. Every role has reinforced in me the importance of creating long- term value rather than pursuing short-term gains. I have learnt that businesses may be measured by financial performance, but great institutions are ultimately measured by the value they create for people. This belief has been the key guiding principle to the transformation ongoing in IGI.
Since 2023, we have been on a deliberate journey of strengthening the business, improving operational efficiency, rebuilding confidence and positioning the company for sustainable growth. Our recently concluded recapitalization, rating upgrade and significant claims settlement are important milestones, but I see them as foundations rather than the destination.
We commend the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for its visionary leadership, steadfast regulatory oversight, and commitment to building a stronger and more sustainable insurance industry. The Commission’s reform initiatives continue to inspire confidence, promote financial stability, and position the Nigerian insurance sector for greater growth and competitiveness. We are proud to have successfully completed this important milestone in alignment with that vision.”
The ambition is to redefine what an insurance company can mean to the customer.
For too long, insurance has been associated almost exclusively with accidents, losses and uncertainty. I believe it should also be associated with confidence, freedom and possibility. People should be able to travel, build businesses, protect their families, pursue their ambitions and enjoy their lives knowing that there is a trusted partner standing behind them, providing the platform for them to achieve more.
That is the institution we are building at IGI.
2 . How important is diversity and inclusion to building a sustainable business and economy?
Diversity and inclusion are not simply matters of corporate responsibility; they are matters of business intelligence. Nigeria is too diverse to be understood from a single perspective. Our
customers come from different generations, professions, communities, income groups and lifestyles. If we want to serve them meaningfully, our organization must be capable of understanding those differences.
At IGI, we want people to have the opportunity to contribute, grow and lead based on their capability, character and performance. Mentorship and development are important because talent should not be limited by someone’s starting point.
There is also a practical business reason for this. If we are trying to make insurance more relevant to everyday life, we need people who understand everyday life in all its diversity. The insurance needs of a young entrepreneur are different from those of a family, a professional, a farmer or someone travelling across the world.
The more perspectives we bring into the organization, the better equipped we are to design solutions that genuinely reflect the people we serve.
3 . What is your approach to talent development and building a strong team at IGI Insurance?
I believe organizations don’t transform themselves. People transform organizations.
Technology can make us faster. Systems can make us more efficient. But it is people who create ideas, solve problems, build relationships and ultimately determine what customers experience. My approach is therefore to attract capable people, develop them continuously and, importantly, give them ownership. I want people to feel that they are not simply employees executing instructions; they are builders of the institution.
We are also challenging our people to think beyond traditional insurance. The question should not always be, “How do we sell this policy?”
It should be, “What problem are we solving in this person’s life?”
That distinction is very important to me.
If someone is travelling, how can we make the journey more secure? If someone is building a business, how can we give them greater confidence to take that next step? If someone is raising a family, how can we help protect what matters most? If someone is focused on their health and wellbeing, how can insurance become part of that journey?
That is the mindset I seek to instill in my team to build the IGI of our dreams.
4 . Given the peculiarities of the Nigerian business environment, what challenges does your sector face, and how has your organization addressed them?
The Nigerian insurance industry faces several structural challenges: low insurance penetration, weak distribution network, inflationary pressure, evolving regulation and changing customer expectations. But beneath all of these is one fundamental challenge: relevance.
Whilst corporate entities, especially the more structured ones generally tend to insure, for many Nigerians, insurance is still something they think about after something has gone wrong. That means we have an enormous opportunity to change that mindset.
We need to move from selling fear to selling confidence.
Insurance should not be presented only as protection against the unpleasant things that could happen. It should also be positioned as an enabler of the things people would love to do.
At IGI, we are addressing the fundamentals first. We have focused on strengthening the business, improving operational efficiency, enhancing turnaround times and demonstrating our commitment to claims settlement. Because no amount of marketing can substitute for keeping your promise when a customer needs you most.
But our ambition goes further.
We want insurance to become more accessible, understandable and relevant to everyday Nigerians. The opportunity is to make insurance feel less like a financial obligation and more like a lifestyle enabler.
That is a different way of thinking about insurance, and I believe it is critical to the industry’s future.
5 . What makes IGI Insurance stand out in a crowded market?
Experience matters. Financial strength matters. Technology matters. Claims performance matters. But I believe the most important differentiator is how you think about the customer.
IGI has decades of insurance experience, but we are not interested in simply preserving the way insurance has always been done. We are building a modern company that combines institutional experience with a much more contemporary understanding of what customers expect.
Our ambition is not to put an old insurance process on a digital screen.
We want to rethink the experience itself.Imagine an insurance company that does not only appear when you have an accident or suffer a loss, but is present across the moments that matter: when you travel, when you move around the city, when you look after your health, when you build a home, when you grow a business or when you plan for your family’s future.
That is where we believe insurance is heading.
We want IGI to be a company people don’t simply buy insurance from. We want to become a company people trust to help them live better lives and achieve more in their various endeavors.
6 . What role will technology and AI play in the future of insurance?
AI will change virtually every part of insurance, from underwriting and claims handling to fraud detection, customer service, risk assessment and personalization.
But I think the bigger question is not what AI can do for insurance. It is what AI can allow insurance to become.
Traditional insurance is largely reactive.
Something happens. The customer reports it. The insurer responds.
With data, AI and predictive technology, we can begin to change that relationship.
Instead of only asking, “What happened?”, we can increasingly ask, “What can we see coming, and how can we help?”
That could mean identifying risks earlier, providing more personalized protection, making claims faster or giving customers useful interventions before a risk becomes a loss.
Technology should also remove the friction that has historically made insurance feel complicated. Customers should not need to understand insurance jargon or navigate cumbersome processes to get the protection they need.
At IGI, we see technology and AI as an enabler of that transformation.
But we will never lose sight of the human side of insurance. People don’t buy insurance simply because of algorithms. They buy it because they trust someone to stand with them when life does not go according to plan.
The future belongs to insurers that can combine the intelligence of technology with the empathy of people.
7 . In the next five years, what major change will reshape the insurance industry?
I believe the biggest change will be that insurance will increasingly disappear into everyday life.
Today, people often think of insurance as a separate product they have to go out and buy.
Tomorrow, protection will increasingly be built into the experiences people are already having.
You travel, and protection is part of the journey. You access healthcare, and protection is part of the experience. You buy a car, rent a home, run a business, make a digital transaction or pursue a particular lifestyle, and insurance becomes part of that ecosystem.
This will be driven by technology, data, partnerships and much more personalized products. But there is an even bigger shift taking place.
Insurance has traditionally been positioned around what can go wrong.
I believe the next generation of insurance will increasingly be positioned around what people want to do.
People want to travel. Build businesses. Raise families. Stay healthy. Own homes. Drive. Explore. Create wealth. Enjoy their lives.
Our role as insurers is to give them the confidence to do those things. That is the philosophy we are building around at IGI.
We don’t want insurance to be something people remember only when life goes wrong. We want it to become part of the confidence with which people live their lives.
That, to me, is the future of insurance.The post Top inspiring business leaders driving Nigeria’s Economic growth : IGI Insurance Plc appeared first on Vanguard News.