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Energy insurance is  one area of risk provision that local underwriting companies in Nigeria and Africa feared and dreaded never to venture into. Until recently, this for many years accounted for huge losses of foreign reserve to capital flight as the market was dominated by foreign insurers, brokers and their allies. Despite the market opportunities presented by the oil and energy industry in terms of premium generation, underwriters had their challenge of low capacity in the area of human and material resources. This ugly trend did not allow the insurance sector to grow with other financial services, as statistics show that the industry was loosing about N50 billion to capital flight from oil and gas business. And this is believed accounted for why the industry contributed poorly to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Nigeria’s International Energy Insurance Plc (IEI) has set a standard providing a leadership platform to champion energy insurance in Nigeria and the West African Sub-region, with the vision to emerging a global financial service institution.
No doubt, the company over the weekend at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Accra Ghana emerged as winner of the African Insurance Company of The Year Award 2008 in the African Leadership Summit. The award organized by African Leadership, an international magazine profiles African Leaders, their achievements and impact to society, using international indices and benchmarks to measure performances.
They said it is in recognition of IEI’s outstanding leadership role in providing financial services in energy sector, benchmarking international standard as well as performance.
Ken Kiami, managing editor, African Leadership Magazine, a publication of the Centre for Economic and Leadership Development said that the award was a strategy towards evolving an accountable leadership legacy in Africa. He noted that it is used to honour, recognize and celebrate men, women and organizations who have displayed extra ordinary commitment to improving the lives of African people.
Ifie Sekibo, executive vice Chairman, IEI said getting the award is based on the conviction of the organizers that what the company has put on the table is worth recognition.
He said IEI believes that it is important for it to have energy insurance giving by its background as a Nigerian company and knowing what has happened over the years which did not help the sector develop in the area of energy insurance. 
He noted that IEI has been able to take a bold step to create that sector within the industry and that stands it out as one of the companies that has been able to show leadership in terms of doing something new. “We may not be the best insurance company yet, but we have done something new, we have shown leadership”. According to him, the award also shows that it has been able to hold the bull by the horn, doing what many people thought was impossible.
The challenge he said is not only to IEI, but to every other insurance company in Nigeria and Africa, that the old order of doing things has gone, because we need to meet up with current technological changes in the global village. “We cannot sit and wait for somebody to create something before we join, so, for us, it means that we have to constantly look for new frontiers, new areas of development and creativity, he said.
Sekibo said this reminds him earlier of what is being done with ECOWAS Bank of Industry and Development for West Africa, that basically try to put up a fund for the development of bio-fuel and renewable energy. He noted that IEI has subscribed to that fund and as major insurers of that fund, it’s trying to get entrepreneurs to begin to think along that line. “Again, these are the challenges we see ourselves in which we think we can spear-head in the industry, he said.
Jacob Erhabor, managing director, IEI said that the award was an attestation to the company’s growing desire to make a change and add value to what is already in existence. He noted that the award will spur the company to take higher challenges and create more value to customers and policy holders.
According to him, the company is looking at its group structure which is evolving to entrench the culture of entrepreneurship among staff and management. “We want to breathe entrepreneurship, we want to dream entrepreneurship, we want to talk entrepreneurship” According to him, the idea is to groom people who look out for opportunities, cease out opportunities, and going beyond the generic leadership and management to taking entrepreneurial risks. “This is a forward looking company that does not need to stay one place, but ever ready to move and take advantage of new opportunities. We are positioning ourselves so that every staff can imbibe that culture.