He NSIA Insurance Limited is repositioning itself as a specialist non-life insurer following plans to transfer its entire life insurance portfolio to CHI Life Assurance Limited.
The company disclosed the strategy during a press briefing in Lagos after its 2026 Annual General Meeting, where its Chairman, Dr Adesegun Akin-Olugbade, outlined the insurer’s performance in 2025 and its plans for the next phase of growth.
According to Akin-Olugbade, the proposed transfer of the life business to CHI Life Assurance, a subsidiary of Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc, has received approval-in-principle from the National Insurance Commission.
He said the transaction would be completed after the remaining legal and regulatory requirements had been fulfilled.
Akin-Olugbade said the decision to concentrate on non-life insurance was deliberate and intended to enable the company to devote greater resources to areas where it has a competitive advantage, particularly general business and motor insurance.
“By so doing, we are able to scale better than what we were doing before because there is no distraction. It is deliberate, and that is where we can scale,” he said.
The chairman added that the company’s long-term ambition was to deepen its relationship with individual and household customers across Nigeria.
N18bn claims paid in 2025
The strategic shift comes as NSIA Insurance reports substantial claims payments and improved financial performance.
The insurer paid N18 billion in claims during the 2025 financial year, taking its total claims settlement over the past four years to N47.9 billion.
The company said it remained particularly focused on speeding up claims settlement in motor insurance.
Akin-Olugbade said customers who report motor claims can have their vehicles inspected and receive an offer on the same day, subject to the required documentation and acceptance process.
“We are putting the customer before profit,” he said.
Revenue rises to N33bn
NSIA Insurance recorded an 18 per cent increase in insurance revenue in 2025, taking the figure to N33 billion.
Profit after tax exceeded N2 billion during the year, while cumulative profit after tax between 2021 and 2025 reached N9.3 billion.
The insurer’s total assets rose to N53 billion, while shareholders’ funds increased by 74.3 per cent, from N13.6 billion in 2021 to N23.7 billion in 2025.
As part of efforts to strengthen its capital position and meet regulatory requirements, shareholders at the AGM approved the capitalisation of N6 billion from retained earnings.
The move will raise the company’s issued share capital from N9 billion to N15 billion through a bonus issue of two new shares for every three shares held.
The company said the capitalisation strengthens its balance sheet without requiring shareholders to inject additional cash and positions the insurer to meet recapitalisation requirements under the Insurance Reform Act 2025.
Focus shifts to specialised non-life operations
NSIA’s restructuring reflects a broader shift within Nigeria’s insurance industry as operators move toward separating life and general insurance operations.
The unbundling of composite businesses is intended to allow insurers to focus capital and management resources on specialised segments while strengthening their ability to meet higher solvency and capital requirements.
For NSIA, the company said its next phase would centre on disciplined underwriting, digital innovation and deeper market penetration across Nigeria’s non-life insurance sector.
The insurer said it would particularly seek to strengthen its position in key general insurance businesses, including motor and other commercial and retail non-life segments, as it pursues its five-year growth strategy.
