When the storytellers sat around the fire
Report by Chima Nwachukwu
In ancient Africa, when wisdom was needed for the journey ahead, the village gathered around the fire while the storytellers spoke. The griots sang. The drummers interpreted the heartbeat of the people. And from words came vision, from vision came unity, and from unity came transformation.
The Africa Bancassurance Storytellers Forum (ABSF) extends heartfelt appreciation and deep gratitude to the distinguished Panel Discussion Panelists and Host of the ABSF Conference and Film Showcase — Ike Nnaebue, award-winning filmmaker; Nike Popoola, multi award-winning journalist and media expert; Bankole Banjo, corporate communications strategist and trans-media storyteller; and Judith Uzoma, Nollywood actress and OAP — for bringing your mastery, brilliance and artistry to the ABSF Panel Discussion.
Indeed, as the African proverb says, “The storyteller creates the memory that the village carries into tomorrow.”
Through your wisdom-filled contributions, thought-provoking insights, engaging moderation and authentic storytelling perspectives, you transformed the panel session into more than a conversation — it became a living African folkstore of impact, inspiration and legacy for attendees and online participants across the world.
Like skilled drummers who know when to soften the rhythm and when to awaken the dancers, each of you brought unique voices and perspectives that enriched the discourse surrounding insurance education, awareness, storytelling, literature and film across Africa.
Your conversations reminded participants that insurance is not merely a product to be sold, but a human story to be understood, trusted and embraced within our cultures and communities.
As our elders would say, “Until the lion learns to tell its own story, the hunter will always appear the hero.”
Through your voices, Africa began once again to tell her own insurance story — not as a foreign concept, but as a narrative rooted in protection, resilience, humanity and shared destiny.
The ABSF Panel Discussion became a sacred storytelling circle where media, film, communication, performance and corporate strategy met together like rivers flowing into one ocean of purpose.
From Lagos to Lusaka, from village squares to digital screens across continents, your contributions gave life to the vision of “From Tales To Trust: Reimagining Africa’s Insurance Story.”
ABSF proudly looks to you not merely as guests of one event, but as valued partners and co-travellers in the growing movement to propagate the gospel of insurance, actuarial science and bancassurance across AFRICA through storytelling, literature and film.
For as the proverb teaches, “One broomstick may break easily, but many together can sweep the marketplace clean.”
Together, we shall continue telling stories that educate, films that inspire, conversations that awaken minds and narratives that reshape the future of insurance in Africa.
May the echoes of your words continue to travel like the talking drum across generations and borders.
With gratitude and African pride,
