{"id":13925,"date":"2026-11-10T08:16:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/value-beyond-claims-key-to-nigerias-10-insurance-penetration-target-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T08:16:01","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:16:01","slug":"value-beyond-claims-key-to-nigerias-10-insurance-penetration-target-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/value-beyond-claims-key-to-nigerias-10-insurance-penetration-target-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Value beyond claims key to Nigeria\u2019s 10% insurance penetration target – Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigeria\u2019s ambition to raise insurance penetration from 0.5 percent to 10 percent by 2031 may depend less on how effectively insurers sell policies, but more on their ability to demonstrate value to customers long before they suffer a loss, according to Niyi Onifade, managing director\/ CEO of Heirs Life Assurance.\n<\/p>\n

Onifade argues that the industry must move beyond its traditional claims-driven business model to one that delivers continuous benefits to policyholders, as the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) seeks to deepen insurance penetration through the Insurance Sector Strengthening Programme (ISSP).\n<\/p>\n

He said that although regulatory reforms, stronger capitalisation and public awareness remain important to the industry\u2019s growth, they would not be sufficient to achieve mass adoption if Nigerians continued to perceive insurance as a product whose benefits become relevant only when disaster strikes.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Nigerians understand risk. Families worry about medical emergencies. Business owners worry about disruption. Homeowners worry about loss and damage. Yet, insurance is often perceived as relevant only after a crisis occurs,\u201d Onifade said.\n<\/p>\n

According to him, this perception has created a value visibility challenge for the industry, with customers often paying premiums for benefits they may never directly experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many people, insurance remains an invisible product. Premiums are paid today for a benefit that may never be experienced tomorrow. This perception creates doubt,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

His position highlights a fundamental challenge facing Nigeria\u2019s insurance industry: converting public awareness and regulatory improvements into products that customers consider worthwhile as part of their everyday financial and economic lives.\n<\/p>\n

The ISSP, recently introduced by NAICOM, seeks to increase insurance penetration from 0.5 percent to 10 percent by 2031, while strengthening institutions, expanding financial inclusion and building a more resilient insurance industry capable of supporting Nigeria\u2019s economic growth.\n<\/p>\n

However, Onifade believes the success of the programme will depend on how effectively insurers redesign their offerings to meet customers\u2019 daily needs rather than concentrating largely on protection against future losses.\n<\/p>\n

He said the global insurance industry was already moving beyond the conventional risk-transfer model towards ecosystems that provide healthcare, wellness, financial security and other services throughout the customer relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria should embrace the same evolution. To sustainably expand penetration, we must move from a claims-driven industry to a value-driven industry,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Under this approach, insurers would be expected to provide tangible benefits that customers can enjoy even when they have no claims to make.\n<\/p>\n

Onifade explained that young professionals could receive financial wellness support, while small business owners could access tools, services and partnerships that help their enterprises grow. Families, he added, should also benefit from services that improve their quality of life.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen customers experience value regularly, insurance ceases to feel like a mandatory expense and becomes a meaningful part of everyday life,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Onifade said expanding access to insurance alone would not address the problem unless products were designed around the specific financial realities, business needs and aspirations of these groups.<\/p>\n

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Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tModestus Anaesoronye<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Modestus Anaesoronye is a leading Nigerian financial journalist with over two decades of experience reporting on the insurance and pension sectors across Nigeria and West Africa. He has held key editorial positions at major national media outlets, including The Comet, The Nation, and Financial Standard, and currently serves as a Senior Financial Analyst at BusinessDay Media Ltd.
\n
\nA widely travelled reporter, he has covered industry developments in more than 14 countries across Africa and Asia.
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\nAnaesoronye is a multiple award-winning journalist, honoured several times as Insurance Journalist of the Year and Pension Journalist of the Year by recognised industry bodies, including PensionScope and the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), among others.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source: <\/p>\n

Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigeria\u2019s ambition to raise insurance penetration from 0.5 percent to 10 percent by 2031 may depend less on how effectively insurers sell policies, but more on their ability to demonstrate… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}