Insurance
From The Report: Nigeria 2017
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With many competing firms offering a robust suite of product offerings and related services, the insurance market in Nigeria is vibrant and growing. Like many sectors across Africa, however, domestic insurers often lack the capacity to underwrite the majority of risks stemming from the main drivers of the economy. Nigeria’s primary revenue generators – oil and gas, and the mining sector – require a level of coverage that is currently beyond the capacity of many domestic insures. This is especially true in the reinsurance market, which is dominated by foreign players. As a result, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is seeking ways to increase the capacity of insurers under its purview. Over the course of 2017 NAICOM will institute risk-based supervision across the industry, which is expected to enhance the sector’s ability to effectively assess and manage risk, and encourage firms to significantly raise their capital buffers. Furthermore, Nigeria’s young and growing population will continue to be a force driving foreign investment into the insurance sphere.

This chapter contains an interview with Eguarekhide Longe, CEO, Aiico Pension.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Rest assured: New plans and products aim to bring more of the population under cover
OBG
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With many competing firms offering a robust suite of product offerings and related services, the insurance market in Nigeria is vibrant and growing. Like many sectors across Africa, however, domestic insurers often lack the capacity to underwrite the majority of risks stemming from the main drivers of the economy. Nigeria’s primary revenue generators – oil and gas, and the mining sector – require a level of coverage that is currently beyond the capacity of many domestic insures. This…

Interview

Agents of change: Eguarekhide Longe, CEO, Aiico Pension, on the scope of recent reforms to the pension sector
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Interview:Eguarekhide Longe What are the main challenges the sector has faced since the Pension Reform Act of 2014 (PRA 2014)? EGUAREKHIDE LONGE: PRA 2014 replaced its predecessor, the Pension Reform Act of 2004, and essentially addressed the key issues of coverage, the contribution rates, and the impact of accumulated pension savings on the economy and society as a whole. On the issue of coverage, PRA 2014 introduced the mandatory application of the pension law in all 36 constituent states…

Analysis

Casting a wider net: Creating a pension plan for informal economy workers
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Given Nigeria’s large informal workforce – estimated by the IMF to contribute 50-65% of GDP – a significant segment of the population is not captured by the country’s pension scheme. Without some form of pension, this portion of the population becomes increasingly financially vulnerable with age. To combat this, Nigeria has taken steps to institute a micro-pension scheme similar to plans in India and Kenya, countries that also maintain large informal workforces. Nigeria’s primary…

Analysis

An eye on risk: The industry is transitioning to risk-based supervision
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Nigeria’s National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is advancing with its plan to transition from a compliance-based model of supervision to that of risk-based supervision (RBS) in 2017. According to the World Bank, RBS is a system in which the supervising authority allocates time and resources to firms based on the level of risk inherent to their balance sheet. The supervisor assesses systemic risk that affects the industry as a whole, and then analyses the level of risk specific to each…