The Nationwide Insurance coverage Fee (NAICOM) has referred to as for regional insurance coverage collaboration to bridge local weather finance hole in West Africa.
NAICOM emphasised that integrating insurance coverage into nationwide financial planning is likely one of the handiest methods for managing local weather dangers and strengthening financial resilience throughout the area.
Delivering his keynote handle on the 2025 West Africa Insurance coverage Firms Affiliation (WAICA) Training Convention held in Lagos on Monday, the Commissioner for Insurance coverage and Chief Govt Officer of NAICOM, Mr. Olusegun Omosehin, urged insurers, reinsurers, and regulators throughout West Africa to undertake progressive options and deepen regional cooperation in creating monetary merchandise that reply successfully to local weather realities within the sub-region.
“To my colleagues throughout WAICA member states — insurers, reinsurers, and trade leaders — it is a name to motion,” he stated.
“We should innovate boldly, growing parametric and microinsurance merchandise tailor-made to our area’s local weather realities.”
Conventional budgetary approaches now not adequate
He stated conventional budgetary approaches had been now not adequate to sort out the rising financial and social disruptions brought on by local weather change.
“Like many different African international locations, Nigeria faces a major local weather finance hole. Conventional budgetary responses are now not adequate,” Omosehin stated.
“We should strengthen monetary devices that enable us to anticipate shocks fairly than merely react to them. When built-in into nationwide planning, insurance coverage turns into one of the efficient instruments of local weather threat administration and financial resilience.”
Investing in information
The NAICOM boss additional careworn the significance of investing in information, know-how, and local weather modelling to enhance threat evaluation and product improvement. He referred to as for regional collaboration to pool dangers and sources, making insurance coverage extra accessible to susceptible populations.
“We should collaborate throughout borders, pooling dangers and sources to construct regional resilience. We should additionally increase inclusion to make sure that insurance coverage reaches farmers, market girls, artisans and micro-entrepreneurs who kind the spine of West African economies,” Omosehin added.
Nigeria’s reform agenda for a resilient insurance coverage sector
Highlighting Nigeria’s coverage strides, Omosehin famous that the Federal Authorities had taken vital steps to strengthen the sector by means of the Nigeria Insurance coverage Trade Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, which modernises the regulatory framework and enhances monetary stability throughout the trade.
He defined that the Act introduces stronger capital necessities, expands obligatory insurance coverage courses to cowl agricultural and environmental dangers, and promotes public-private partnerships to help infrastructure and local weather resilience.
“These reforms aren’t merely technical; they’re foundational to our nationwide preparedness and long-term sustainability,” he stated.
Omosehin careworn that addressing climate-related dangers requires a unified regional strategy that blends regulation, innovation, and partnership amongst governments, personal sector gamers, and improvement establishments.
“Local weather change doesn’t respect borders. Its impacts are felt in all places — in each nation, each group, and each sector. Simply as rain falls on many roofs, so too should our response be collective,” he famous.
What it is best to know
- In August, Nairametrics reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed into legislation the Nigerian Insurance coverage Trade Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, a transformative piece of laws geared toward modernizing Nigeria’s insurance coverage sector and accelerating the nation’s journey towards a $1 trillion economic system.
- The Act introduces sweeping reforms within the type of stringent capital necessities, obligatory insurance coverage enforcement, and digitization mandates.
- The NIIRA 2025 empowers the Nationwide Insurance coverage Fee (NAICOM) to control and supervise all insurance coverage and reinsurance companies working inside Nigeria.
It introduces a collection of reforms designed to strengthen client safety, entice funding, and enhance operational effectivity.
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