Left-Right: General Manager Business Development, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Charles Nwachukwu, Managing Director/CEO, Stephen Alangbo and Branch Head Alaba, Uju Apeh at the opening of Alaba branch office in Lagos.
(Lagos, Nigeria — August 22, 2024) Cornerstone Insurance Plc has opened a branch office at Alaba International Market in Lagos, as part of plans to empower traders within the market with unique retail products, especially ‘Oga Boy’, which aims to promote apprenticeship.
The Managing Director/CEO Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Stephen Alangbo, at the event said the company as a retail focused organisation created the branch to bring insurance closer to the market community.
According to him, the company planned to opened five branch offices this year, stressing that the Alaba branch office makes it the second, having opened the Lekki, Lagos office on Tuesday.
“The opening of Alaba International Market, recent one at Lekki and other branches we are planning to open is one of our strategies in Cornerstone Insurance Plc to drive retail business and deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria.
“We are coming to Alaba because there is a need for businessmen and women in the market to take insurance. You will see that we don’t have any significant presence of insurance in Alaba and we thought that if you want to distribute insurance and make people embrace it, you have to give them the product they want and come closer to them.
He noted that Cornerstone has being at the forefront when it comes to prompt claims payment, stressing that the firm does not have any unpaid claims in its record.
“Sometimes people buy a car and when there is an accident, they lose their investments. People who are in marketplaces, when there is fire incidence, they become poor automatically. In some families, when something happens to the breadwinner, the entire family is affected. We don’t need all these.”
“We have one of our products “Oga Boy” if you pick somebody from the village to be your apprentice, and if he stays three or five years with you, and by the time he is going, and because you don’t have money to settle that person, it becomes a problem between you and that person and even the family of the person will not be happy with you.
“Oga Boy allows you to plan for your apprentice from the first day he starts serving you. So when the person has completed the period of his service, Cornerstone pays the person off on your behalf.
He said, “We are also going to leverage cluster marketing which we call partnership in distributing our products and services in Alaba International Market. It helps us to reach many uninsured individuals easily. We have already related our intentions to the Chairman of the market and we have explained the benefits of insurance to them.
“One of the things that has worked for us is the pricing of our products. We have a product that is as cheap as N1,000 and when we are dealing with various associations in the market, it gives us access to many customers and also helps them to maximise the benefits of the various products we are bringing to them.”
Also speaking at the event, Charles Nwachukwu, General Manager, Business Development, said as of 2023, Alaba International Market generated revenue of about $5 billion.
“A market that generates such a huge amount of revenue, of course, needs insurance to protect stocks, protect human capital, improve investment, because insurance is a risk mitigating mechanism,” he said.
About Cornerstone Insurance
Cornerstone Insurance is licensed and re-certified by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to do both general and life business. As the first insurance company in Nigeria to provide customers with an online platform for insurance transactions, our services are technologically driven by cutting-edge insurance applications. These services are accessible with ease through the internet and on mobile.
At Cornerstone, we remain committed to our core values of integrity, empathy, professionalism, innovation, and team spirit, and our continued mission of delivering value beyond expectations through needs-based products and quality service.
Media Contact:
Paul Iwunwa
Marketing and Corporate Communications
