Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has been named Global Ambassador for Insurance in Nigeria and Face of Insurance within the nation, with a pledge to champion reforms aimed toward repositioning the trade as a significant driver of financial progress.
Adesina made the dedication whereas delivering the keynote handle on the Nigeria Insurance Directors Conference, organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in collaboration with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in Lagos.
He stated he would deploy his expertise, worldwide networks and management affect to advertise the expansion, visibility and transformation of Nigeria’s insurance coverage sector.
Speaking on the theme, “Building the Nigerian Insurance Industry: Institutional Transformation, Public Accountability and National Economic Development,” the previous AfDB president challenged insurance coverage operators, regulators and trade leaders to prioritise public confidence, accountability {and professional} requirements.
He stated Nigeria’s insurance coverage penetration, estimated at about 0.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), remained a significant constraint to the nation’s capability to guard households, companies and productive investments.
According to him, the trade should transfer past standard enterprise practices and assume a extra strategic position in supporting the Federal Government’s ambition of constructing a one-trillion-dollar financial system.
“Do not just build insurance companies. Insure the nation. Protect its wealth. Finance its growth,” he stated.
Adesina maintained that sustainable financial progress depended on an insurance coverage trade able to defending productive belongings, managing dangers, supporting investments and mobilising long-term capital.
He recognized rebuilding public confidence as some of the pressing priorities going through the sector, stressing that the credibility of insurance coverage corporations was in the end decided by their willingness to honour authentic claims.
He stated the worth of insurance coverage was demonstrated not when premiums have been collected, however when policyholders suffered losses and obtained the safety promised below their insurance policies.
“When a policyholder pays an insurance premium, that policyholder deserves a premium service in return,” he stated.
He urged insurance coverage corporations to make sure immediate and clear claims settlement, whereas calling on their boards to take better duty for claims efficiency, buyer complaints and administration accountability.
The former AfDB president additionally proposed that NAICOM introduce an annual public accountability and efficiency report detailing claims obtained and settled, excellent claims, settlement timelines, buyer complaints, regulatory compliance, monetary soundness and company governance.
He argued that the trade couldn’t demand public confidence whereas resisting public scrutiny.
On the continuing recapitalisation train below the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025, Adesina cautioned that elevated capital alone wouldn’t assure stronger establishments.
“Recapitalisation is not the same as institutional transformation,” he stated.
He defined that stronger capitalisation should be supported by sound company governance, disciplined underwriting, ample technical reserves, efficient danger administration and stronger reinsurance preparations.
He known as on insurance coverage administrators to strengthen board oversight, scrutinise related-party transactions and be sure that inside audit, actuarial, compliance and risk-management features operated independently.
He additionally urged NAICOM to deepen risk-based supervision and be sure that insurance coverage corporations have been held accountable for measurable efficiency below the trade’s reform framework.
Adesina additional known as for expanded insurance coverage protection throughout agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, vitality, transportation, healthcare and housing, noting that efficient danger administration was important to attracting investments into productive sectors.
Drawing on his expertise on the AfDB, he stated improvement finance and danger administration should work collectively, as traders have been unlikely to commit substantial sources to tasks the place dangers have been inadequately managed.
He urged insurance coverage corporations to channel a part of their investible funds into commercially viable infrastructure and productive-sector investments, whereas sustaining their obligations to policyholders and complying with relevant rules.
He, nevertheless, cautioned that nationwide improvement priorities should not override the monetary pursuits of policyholders.
Adesina additionally advocated stronger home reinsurance capability to allow Nigerian establishments to retain and prudently handle a better proportion of insurable dangers throughout the nation.
The former AfDB president welcomed NAICOM’s 2031 targets of accelerating insurance coverage penetration to 10 per cent of GDP, extending lively insurance coverage protection to 25 million Nigerians and creating 6,000 licensed insurance coverage professionals.
He stated attaining the targets would require coordinated motion by the regulator, skilled establishments and insurance coverage corporations.
He urged NAICOM to offer strategic route and regulatory oversight, whereas the CIIN ought to strengthen skilled improvement, certification, competence and moral management.
Insurance corporations and their boards, he added, ought to set up measurable targets for increasing protection, bettering claims settlement, strengthening company governance and deploying know-how.
He proposed an annual trade efficiency scorecard supported by quarterly monitoring and periodic impartial assessments.
“The measure of success must be outcomes, not announcements,” he stated.
Adesina’s acceptance of the ambassadorial position, in line with the assertion, displays his dedication to strengthening the insurance coverage trade and positioning it as an establishment able to supporting Nigeria’s long-term financial improvement.
He additionally drew on his doctoral analysis at Purdue University on agricultural dangers, his expertise managing agricultural dangers as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and his work on local weather resilience and improvement financing throughout his tenure on the AfDB.
He urged insurance coverage professionals, regulators and trade leaders to take collective duty for constructing establishments worthy of public confidence.
He stated the way forward for Nigerian insurance coverage would rely not merely on the quantity of capital raised or premiums collected, however on the safety delivered to policyholders and the arrogance impressed among the many public.
“And the time to begin is now,” he stated.
