Adesina named insurance ambassador, urges prompt claims payment
- Akinwumi Adesina, former AfDB president, has been named Global Ambassador for Insurance in Nigeria.
- He told insurers in Lagos that paying legitimate claims promptly is the real test of the industry.
- He warned that recapitalisation alone will not fix low insurance penetration of about 0.5 per cent of GDP.
Former African Development Bank (AfDB) president Dr Akinwumi Adesina has been named Global Ambassador for Insurance in Nigeria and Face of Insurance in the country. He accepted the role at the Nigeria Insurance Directors Conference in Lagos, where he delivered the keynote address.
The conference was organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). Adesina said he would use his experience, contacts and influence to push for reforms in the sector.
His message to insurers was simple: pay claims. He said the true value of insurance shows not when premiums are collected, but when a policyholder suffers a loss and gets the cover promised.
When a policyholder pays an insurance premium, that policyholder deserves a premium service in return.
He asked insurance boards to take direct responsibility for claims performance, customer complaints and how management answers for its actions. He also proposed that NAICOM publish an annual public report on the industry, covering claims received and settled, outstanding claims, settlement times, complaints, compliance, financial soundness and governance.
His argument: the industry cannot ask Nigerians to trust it while refusing to be examined.
Why it matters to ordinary Nigerians
Insurance penetration in Nigeria is estimated at about 0.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That means most households and small businesses carry risks alone, from fire and flood to illness, accident and death of a breadwinner.
Adesina linked the gap to the Federal Government's ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy. Without insurance that protects factories, farms, transport and homes, he said, investors will be slow to put money into productive sectors.
Do not just build insurance companies. Insure the nation. Protect its wealth. Finance its growth.
He also weighed in on the ongoing recapitalisation under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025. More capital, he said, is not the same as a stronger institution. It must come with sound governance, disciplined underwriting, adequate reserves, risk management and stronger reinsurance.
He urged directors to watch related-party transactions closely and to keep internal audit, actuarial, compliance and risk functions independent. NAICOM, he said, should deepen risk-based supervision.
Adesina wants cover expanded in agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, transport, healthcare and housing, and stronger local reinsurance capacity so more risk is kept within Nigeria. He cautioned that national development goals must not override policyholders' financial interests.
What happens next
He backed NAICOM's 2031 targets: raising penetration to 10 per cent of GDP, covering 25 million Nigerians and producing 6,000 certified insurance professionals. He proposed an annual industry scorecard with quarterly monitoring and independent checks.
The measure of success must be outcomes, not announcements.
The targets now rest with the regulator, the CIIN and the companies themselves. For policyholders, the test will be whether claims are paid, and how fast.
