Nigeria’s $1trn Economy Ambition Puts Insurance Capacity, Trust To The Test

By Ayo Susan

The insurance industry is being challenged to become a more consequential pillar of Nigeria’s economic transformation as the country pursues a $1 trillion economy, with regulators and industry leaders pointing to capital, technology and public trust as critical constraints.

DEVELOPMENT: Speaking at the 2026 Insurance Professional Forum of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria in Abeokuta, NAICOM Commissioner for Insurance and CEO, Mr. Olusegun Omosehin, said that insurance must evolve from a conventional financial service into critical economic infrastructure.

He said recent regulatory reforms, including recapitalisation, are intended to build insurers capable of retaining larger risks, underwriting major national projects, investing in technology and meeting policyholder obligations during economic stress.

“Insurance is a promise,” Omosehin said, stressing the need for prompt and transparent claims settlement.

He also disclosed the establishment of a Policyholder Protection Fund, supported by operators, to provide additional protection in the event of institutional failures.

DATA: Nigeria’s risk landscape is becoming more complex, with economic volatility, climate-related disasters, cyber threats, technological disruption and geopolitical uncertainty increasing the potential scale of losses.

The industry is therefore being pushed towards predictive analytics, enterprise risk management, scenario modelling, climate intelligence, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

SIGNIFICANCE: Insurance capacity directly affects the economy’s ability to absorb shocks and mobilise investment. Weak underwriting capacity can leave major infrastructure, businesses and households exposed to losses that ultimately spill into banks, jobs, government revenues and economic output.

The Managing Director of Sahara Power Group, Kola Adesina, noted that risk cannot be eliminated, but adverse events should not permanently destroy economic value. Insurance, he said, enables risk pooling and financial recovery.

For Nigeria’s investment ambitions, deeper insurance penetration could also expand domestic risk-bearing capacity and support larger pools of long-term capital.

NEXT MOVE: The key indicators will be whether recapitalisation produces stronger balance sheets, whether claims settlement improves, and whether insurers deploy technology to price and manage emerging risks more effectively. The credibility of the Policyholder Protection Fund will also be tested by industry conduct.

OUR LENS: The industry’s biggest constraint may be trust, not capital alone. Omosehin warned that “no amount of capital, technology, or regulation” can substitute for confidence. For a $1 trillion economy, insurance must therefore move from being a peripheral financial product to becoming part of the country’s economic risk infrastructure.

Ayo Susan is a journalist, covering business, society and emerging developments with an emphasis on credible and engaging storytelling.