The National Insurance Commission NAICOM says the emerging insurance industry after the recapitalisation deadline set for 31st July, 2026, will be stronger, better-capitalised companies.
This state of recapitalisation report released on Friday 3rd July by the Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin in Lagos said the current recapitalisation is of a higher dimension. “It is recapitalisation for capacity, for retention, and for credibility.”
Rolling out the Commission content with the exercise at the Investiture ceremony of Mrs. Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, as the 27th Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Omosehin said, “At NAICOM we are happy with the progress we have seen with respect to the capital verification exercise and the number of institutions that have met and surpassed the minimum capital requirement MCR This is demonstrating the capacity of the insurance industry in Nigeria to truly provide the necessary resilience for a $1 tr economic aspiration of Mr President by 2030.”
Another milestone the CFI stated, is the NIIRA 2025 which he cleared, “gave us a modern legal framework to rebuild and transform the insurance industry. It gave us the Policyholders Protection Fund. It gave us risk-based supervision as law, not policy. It gave us tools to rebuild trust.”
However, he said the next phase of insurance transformation, additional work is needed post foundation work of NIIRA 2025 and recapitalisation. What now follow he stated, are people, institutions and leadership. At this stage he said NIA which he dubbed “the conscience and the engine room of the underwriting market, has three lead responsibilities.
First, he outlined is leadership in trust. “Our biggest deficit is not capital. It is trust. Every claim paid promptly, every policy explained clearly, every customer treated fairly, adds a block to the trust we must rebuild.” He therefore, charged the new NIA leadership to make claims excellence a market-wide culture. Let us compete on service. Let the Nigerian people feel the difference.”
Coming after he said is leadership in enforcement. “We have six classes of compulsory insurance backed by law. Yet compliance remains below 30%. The Commission cannot enforce alone. We need the market to insist on compliance as a condition for doing business. Partner with us, with State Governments, with FRSC, with Nigerian Police Force, and other law enforcement agencies. When we enforce, we protect lives, we protect public funds, and we grow the market.”
Another area in leadrship where he wants the NIA to impact is innovation. “Our penetration is below 1% because our products and distribution have not met Nigerians where they are. The Regulatory Sandbox is open. Digital channels are waiting. Embedded insurance, microinsurance, Takaful, and parametric covers for agriculture and climate are the future. I urge NIA to drive product relevance and digital scale-up, so that insurance becomes a tool for every farmer, trader, and household.”
Pledging to ready to work with the new leadership to make these responsibilities achieved Omosehin laid out intervention models for the regulator and operators; “Our role is to set the rules, supervise fairly, and create an enabling environment. Your role is to organise the market uphold ethics, and deliver value to Nigerian people.”
