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Chiamaka Ajeamo
As COVID-19 disruptions continue to challenge the economy including the insurance industry, operators have been unrelenting in their bid to boosting the nation’s fight against the pandemic through cash donations.
Already, the insurance sector both individually as companies and collectively as associations has given 7,000 Nigerian health workers free life insurance covers estimated at about N17 billion, aside testing kits and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
In furtherance to this support for instance, AXA Group; the parent body of AXA Mansard Insurance Nigeria, disclosed plans to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic via research funding targeted at curbing the spread of the epidemic across the continents.
The Chief Executive Officer, AXA, Thomas Buberl, who revealed this said the firm had earmarked an estimated €5 million as part of philanthropic research funding to eradicate the pandemic in the world.
Buberl said: “At a time when intensive care units around the world are coming under increasing pressure, AXA Group has partnered with Fund 101, an organisation that federates more than 1,200 intensive care units across 60 countries, to share and accelerate improvements in therapeutic protocols.”
He said that in France for instance, AXA purchased two million masks, which were given to the medical system whilst also helping health workers by financing their meals. He added that, the company has gone a step further in its commitment with 101 Fund by launching a global solidarity challenge, tagged ‘AXA Solidarity Response’ with its employees to support 1,200 intensive care units in 60 countries including Nigeria.
According to him, the challenge campaign, which would run from April 7 – June 30, 2020, would give each AXA employee the opportunity to generate a donation of 5 Euros, financed by AXA, to 101 Fund by publishing a solidarity message on their personal Twitter or LinkedIn or Instagram account, enabling them to also participate.
Buberl said, “The world is going through a crisis that will stand in collective memory. In an unstable environment, AXA has been fully mobilised since the outbreak of the pandemic to respond to two challenges: the health emergency, by protecting its employees and clients, and the economic and social emergency, by ensuring the continuity of a business that is essential to society.
He further stated that the firm has resolved to see that the COVID-19 pandemic is eradicated with its donation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth millions of Naira to the Lagos State Government, College of Medicine & University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, adding that the company has meaningfully responded to the fight against the epidemic, having also donated life insurance cover for 100 medical professionals across Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan.
“In line with our mission, and consistent with the actions taken by public authorities around the world, we are announcing today new commitments to reinforce the impact of initiatives already underway”, Buberi said.
