Former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has been appointed Global Ambassador for Insurance in Nigeria and Face of Insurance in the country, pledging to use his international influence and experience to promote reforms and strengthen public confidence in the industry.
Adesina announced his commitment while delivering the keynote address at the Nigeria Insurance Directors Conference, organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in collaboration with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in Lagos.
Speaking on the theme, “Building the Nigerian Insurance Industry: Institutional Transformation, Public Accountability and National Economic Development,” he challenged insurance operators, regulators and industry leaders to make accountability, professional standards and customer trust central to the sector’s transformation.
He said insurance penetration in Nigeria, estimated at about 0.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, remained too low to provide adequate protection for households, businesses and productive investments.
According to him, the industry must move beyond conventional business practices and play a more strategic role in supporting the Federal Government’s ambition to build a $1tn economy.
“Do not just build insurance companies. Insure the nation. Protect its wealth. Finance its growth,” he said.
Adesina explained that sustainable economic development required an insurance sector capable of protecting productive assets, managing risks, supporting investments and mobilising long-term capital.
He identified the restoration of public confidence as one of the industry’s most pressing challenges, arguing that insurers’ credibility depended largely on their willingness and ability to settle legitimate claims promptly.
He said the real value of an insurance policy became evident when a customer suffered a loss and needed the protection promised by the insurer.
“When a policyholder pays an insurance premium, that policyholder deserves a premium service in return,” he said.
He therefore urged insurance companies to improve claims settlement processes, provide transparent information to customers and ensure that their boards took direct responsibility for claims performance, customer complaints and management accountability.
The former AfDB president also proposed that NAICOM introduce an annual public accountability and performance report covering claims received and settled, outstanding claims, settlement timelines, customer complaints, regulatory compliance, financial soundness and corporate governance.
He maintained that the industry could not expect public confidence while resisting public scrutiny.
On the ongoing recapitalisation exercise under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025, Adesina warned that raising additional capital would not automatically produce stronger institutions.
“Recapitalisation is not the same as institutional transformation,” he said.
He stressed that improved capitalisation must be accompanied by sound corporate governance, disciplined underwriting, adequate technical reserves, effective risk management and stronger reinsurance arrangements.
Adesina urged insurance directors to improve board oversight, scrutinise related-party transactions and ensure that internal audit, actuarial, compliance and risk-management functions operated independently.
He also called on NAICOM to strengthen risk-based supervision and hold insurance companies accountable for measurable performance under the industry’s reform programme.
Beyond governance, he advocated wider insurance coverage across agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, transportation, healthcare and housing, noting that effective risk management was critical to attracting investment into productive sectors.
Drawing on his experience at the AfDB, Adesina said development finance and risk management must work together, as investors would be reluctant to commit substantial resources to projects where risks were not adequately managed.
He encouraged insurers to invest part of their available funds in commercially viable infrastructure and productive-sector projects, while ensuring that such investments did not compromise their obligations to policyholders or violate regulatory requirements.
He further called for stronger domestic reinsurance capacity to enable Nigerian institutions to retain and prudently manage a larger proportion of insurable risks within the country.
Adesina welcomed NAICOM’s 2031 targets of raising insurance penetration to 10 per cent of GDP, expanding active insurance coverage to 25 million Nigerians and developing 6,000 certified insurance professionals.
He said achieving the targets would require coordinated efforts from the regulator, professional institutions and insurance companies.
While NAICOM should provide strategic direction and regulatory oversight, he said CIIN must strengthen professional development, certification, competence and ethical leadership.
Insurance companies and their boards, he added, should establish measurable targets for expanding coverage, improving claims settlement, strengthening governance and deploying technology.
He proposed an annual industry performance scorecard, supported by quarterly monitoring and periodic independent assessments, to track progress towards the sector’s development goals.
“The measure of success must be outcomes, not announcements,” he said.
Adesina’s acceptance of the ambassadorial role reflects his stated commitment to positioning insurance as a stronger pillar of Nigeria’s economic development.
He also drew on his doctoral research at Purdue University on agricultural risks, his experience managing agricultural risks as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and his work on climate resilience and development financing during his leadership of the AfDB.
He urged insurance professionals, regulators and industry leaders to take collective responsibility for building institutions that deserve public confidence.
He said the industry’s future should be measured not simply by the capital raised or premiums collected, but by the protection delivered to policyholders and the trust earned from the public.
“And the time to begin is now,” he said.
