Didier Assemian, Head of Benefits at GNA-CI:
GNA-CI, the second-largest IARDT insurer in Ivory Coast and the CIMA zone, officially launches in October 2026 compensation in "dry 0" at its Accelerated Claims Center (C.I.A.). Created in 2020 and dedicated to the rapid settlement of automobile claims, the system is deployed across four sites in Abidjan, San-Pedro, and Bouaké.
Didier Assemian, Head of Benefits for the company, details its operation, scope, and commitments.
What is the Accelerated Claims Center, concretely?
An insurer is judged on the day of the claim. The rest of the time, it is selling a promise.
The C.I.A. is our response to that day: a location, a team, and a procedure gathered to settle an automobile claim without requiring the client to return. The declaration, the appraisal, the decision, and the payment are all done in the same place.
We have eliminated the back-and-forth because that is where time is lost.
You are announcing compensation in "dry 0". What exactly does this figure measure?
It measures the waiting time between file validation and payment. Once the claim is validated, the payment is made immediately, on-site.
I specify this because the wording matters: we do not promise a file processed in zero seconds. We promise that a validated file no longer waits.
The C.I.A. already existed. What is changing?
Since 2020, the C.I.A. settled automobile claims in less than four hours. We analyzed the sequence of those four hours, step by step, and removed what did not serve the client.
Two developments made the difference: the payment decision is now made in each center, as close as possible to the policyholder; and the payment can be made via mobile money. Does paying quickly mean controlling less?
No, and that is the point I care about most. The controls are the same; they are performed earlier and in the same place.
Documents, appraisal, verification of coverage: everything is gathered before the decision. An incomplete file, or one that calls for an investigation, follows the standard process.
Speed comes from organization, not from relaxed vigilance or haste.
Which claims are concerned?
Three situations open access to the C.I.A. The first: the policyholder is not responsible for the accident and has subscribed to the Advance on Recourse coverage.
We indemnify them, then we exercise the recourse ourselves. The second: the policyholder is covered under All-Risks Damage.
The third: the accident involves two GNA-CI policyholders, even in simple Recourse. A practical condition is added: the vehicle must be able to be presented at the center; towed vehicles are not processed there.
Bodily injury or complex files follow their own specific process and timelines; we do not claim otherwise.
Why San-Pedro and Bouaké, in addition to Abidjan?
Because a vehicle awaiting repair costs just as much in San-Pedro as it does in Marcory. For a carrier, a merchant, or a PME, every day of waiting is a day without revenue.
San-Pedro lives from its port, Bouaké is a road junction: these are cities where the vehicle is a work tool. The payment is decided on-site there, without going back to Abidjan.
What does this speed cost the company?
Less than one might think. An owed claim is already provisioned: paying it sooner changes the date, not the amount.
Conversely, a file that drags on generates follow-ups, complaints, and additional management costs. A client compensated without waiting has every reason to stay.
We treat the settlement time as a management indicator, not as an advertising argument.
By what will you measure that the mechanism meets its commitments?
By the stopwatch, file by file. Our benchmark is our own history: less than four hours yesterday, zero waiting after validation today.
One week after implementation, more than a dozen policyholders have been compensated on-site, without waiting time. We present ourselves as the vitamin of insurance.
A vitamin is judged by its effects, not by its packaging.
Published on 15/10/26 09:49
The Editorial Staff