Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says there is a potential income gains of up to $450 billion from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
\nOsinbajo\u2019s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the vice president spoke virtually at the closing of the 2021 Conference of African Insurance Practitioners.
\nThe theme of conference is, \u201cRebuilding Africa\u2019s Economy: An Insurance Perspective.\u201d
\nHe said that amidst monumental challenges posed by climate change, particularly energy transition and related issues, the coming decade anchored on AfCFTA) offered great opportunities for Africa\u2019s socio-economic transformation.
\nOsinbajo urged African insurance practitioners to leverage opportunities in the AfCFTA
\nHe said: \u201cEvery smart economic grouping, whether governments or businesses, must be thinking, planning and strategizing for these new times.
\n\u201cThe free trade agreement presents a major opportunity for African countries.
\n\u201cBy some estimates, if we get it right, we can bring several millions out of extreme poverty and raise the incomes of 68 million others who live on less than 5.50 dollars per day.
\n\u201cThere are potential income gains of up to 450 billion dollars, and just cutting red tape and simplifying customs procedures alone could drive up to 250 billion dollars of that sum.\u201d
\nHe said that all amounted to plenty opportunities for the insurance industry in Africa.
\n The vice president said it entailed more trade in goods which would mean greater need for insurance services; brokers, in particular, should expect a boom.
\n\u201cDemand for trade facilitation services will rise, but obviously companies that already have market presence in other African countries, even if by collaboration, will benefit more than others.
\n\u201cWe can expect to see more well capitalized insurance providers from other African countries coming to compete in the Nigerian market.
\n\u201cAnd we shouldn\u2019t be surprised if this happens quickly.
\n\u201cServices can be set up faster than manufacturing plants. Nigerian financial services companies, especially banks, are already in many African Countries, the likes of Zenith, Access, UBA.
\n\u201cHow about Insurance companies? We should now be looking at developing homegrown international African insurance conglomerates; the time is now.\u201d
\nOn the issue of climate change, Osinbajo probed on how the African insurance
\nindustry prepared for the interesting days ahead.
\nHe made a reference to a Mackenzie podcast transcript.
\n\u201cIt was quite eye opening; while there will obviously be opportunities for new insurance products and solutions, especially in the property and casualty segment of the business, insurance companies must also be prepared for the systemic nature of climate induced damage, with the possibilities of market failures and more system-wide destabilisation.
\n\u201cHere in Nigeria, the growing intensity of flooding and damage to vast agricultural acreages might have a knock-on effect on other areas of the economy.
\n\u201d Further slumps in the economy is bad for everyone, even insurers.\u201d
\nOsinbajo said that for Africa, there was perhaps a more significant challenge.
\nHe said that is in the past two years, the wealthier countries, after building their own economies on fossil fuels, had started banning or restricting public investments in fossil fuels, including gas.
\n\u201cSeven European countries, including France, Germany, and the UK, announced that they would halt public funding for certain fossil fuel projects abroad.
\n\u201cAlso, the World Bank and other multilateral development banks are being urged by some shareholders to do the same.
\n\u201cThe African Development Bank, for instance, is increasingly unable to support large natural gas projects.
\n\u201d Already, some OECD based insurance companies are already committing to reducing their commitments to carbon intensive industries by 2030.\u201d
\nHe explained the implication of the trend on Africa\u2019s growing oil and gas markets.
\n\u201cI think African insurance companies must now speak and act differently.
\n\u201cYou must be at the forefront of the campaign for a just and equitable transition to a low carbon future.
\n\u201cThis means that we cannot accept a defunding of gas projects when gas is an important transition fuel for us.
\n\u201d Not just to get our people from the environmentally damaging firewood to cooking gas, and also autogas for our auto vehicles, but to also provide much needed power for industries and domestic use.
\n\u201cAfrica\u2019s economic future might really be at risk if we do not find our voices and, in unison, insist that the necessary speed to zero emissions must not mean disaster for our African economies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says there is a potential income gains of up to $450 billion from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Osinbajo\u2019s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the vice president spoke virtually at the closing of the 2021 Conference of African Insurance Practitioners. The theme of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125,134],"tags":[247],"class_list":["post-33143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-money","category-free-trade-zone","tag-afcfta","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n
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