Despite Nigeria’s economic headwinds the country’s insurance experienced a 13 per cent growth in revenue between 2014 and 2022, the National Insurance Commission has said.
Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, who disclosed this during his welcome address at the National Insurance Conference on Monday in Abuja, also said the Commission mobilized the insurance industry to contribute the sum of N500 million and free Life Insurance cover for front line workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
He said, “In terms of its performance Your Excellencies, the industry premium income between 2014 and 2022 grew at an average of 13.6%; from a premium income of N282 Billion to N726.2 Billion. The total assets of the sector also grew at an average of 12% for the same period; from an asset base of N827.5 Billion in 2014 to N2.33 Trillion in 2022.”
The NAICOM helmsman noted that despite the upward movement in the industry’s income trajectory, the industry has been hampered by talent gap, comparatively low public awareness, insurance affordability, lack of trust and confidence in insurers, cultural and religious bias, inadequate distribution channels, low enforcement of insurance, among numerous others.
Thomas said the Commission under my leadership has remained resilient and focused on implementing initiatives that will foster development of the Nigerian insurance industry and align its fortune with that of the nation as the Africa largest economy.
As part of its efforts to reach its goal, the NAICOM boss said the Commission will transform the regulatory environment to sustain the industry growth, ensuring a transition to a risk-based capital model.
“Promote insurance awareness and adoption; Broaden insurance product offerings and improve effectiveness of distribution channels; enhance digitalization of the insurance industry; deepen the industry’s talent pool and capabilities as well as support Nigeria’s economic transformation and sustainability agenda, he said.
Highlighting some of the flagship projects being implemented by the management of the Commission as part o its medium term Strategic Plan 2021–2023, Thomas explained that the Commission has ensured improved safety and soundness of the Nigerian insurance sector to continue to de-risk economic activities of Nigerians through the enhancement of our prudential regulatory tools and good corporate governance practices; migration of the Commission’s supervisory regime to align with global best practices. According to him, this initiative has enhanced the Commission’s distress management and market restructuring.
“Implementation of Project E-Regulation through operationalized Business Process Management Solution and NAICOM Portal. The BPMS is currently being used to process applications from insurance institutions while the Portal remains the focal point for generation of unique policy identification numbers for all policies as well as repository for statistical data including verification of insurance policies issued in Nigeria,” he said.
The theme of the Conference is “Redefining Safety – Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings and Buildings under Construction”.
