NIIRA Reform Act, digital technologies offer new path to close Nigeria’s insurance gap
By Eberechi Obinagwam
The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 and emerging digital technologies could help close the country’s insurance protection gap, speakers at a two-day media training programme, titled “The Universe of Insurance and Journalism: Risk Everywhere, in Everything,” have said.
Speaking on “The Risk we carry, the protection we ignore and the Economic opportunities we are missing,” Dr Femi Oyetunji, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SanlamAllianz Life Insurance Nigeria Ltd said Nigeria’s low insurance penetration was not merely an industry challenge but a national resilience issue, noting that households, businesses and government often bear the financial consequences of uninsured losses.
“Risk is everywhere but protection is not yet everywhere. The gap is not just an insurance -industry issue, it is a national resilience issue. Nigeria does not need insurance growth merely for the sake of industry size (to compare our insurance premium income with those of other countries). Nigeria needs deeper protection because development without protection will remain fragile,” he said.
He said NIIRA 2025 provided an opportunity to strengthen the sector through improved regulation, compulsory insurance, stronger policyholder protection and digitisation, but stressed that effective enforcement, accessible products and prompt settlement of valid claims were necessary to build public trust.
On the role of technology, Jackson Ikiebe, Certified Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), said artificial intelligence and blockchain could expand insurance access through digital distribution, automated claims processing, digital onboarding and pay-as-you-go products.
He, however, said technology alone would not solve the sector’s challenges, citing low public awareness, digital trust, regulatory and technical standards, and the difficulty of integrating new technologies with existing insurer systems.
“Technology won’t fix Nigerian insurance on its own – but paired with the NIIRA 2025 reforms, it’s the first realistic path to insuring a nation of 200+ million.”
Raymond Akalonu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Umbrella Insurance Brokers Ltd., on his paper: “The Business Risk”, said Nigeria needed to move from a “relief culture” to an insurance culture, arguing that government bailouts after disasters were temporary solutions that placed burdens on public funds.
He said NIIRA 2025, with reforms including risk-based capital requirements, claims-settlement timelines, an insurtech licensing framework and stronger consumer protection, could improve transparency and trust in the sector.
Akalonu urged journalists to use their reporting to examine the insurance dimension of disasters and other major events, including whether affected public and private assets were insured, how claims were handled and who ultimately bore the cost of uninsured losses. Adding that better reporting could help the public understand insurance as a mechanism for sustainable recovery rather than relying primarily on government relief after losses.
“Journalists should preach the news of resilience, trust, so that we could be able to grow the insurance penetration and contribute to the $1 trillion benchmark by 2030.”
“The business of risk is not just about numbers – it’s about trust, resilience, and communication. The insurer and the journalists should join hands to enable everyone else see that bailouts are unsustainable, that insurance is the true business of risk transfer, and jointly spotlight the gaps to drive change,” he said.
