BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR— Innovation is no longer an optional strategy but a mandatory requirement for regulators seeking to close the insurance gap across Africa, according to Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive of Nigeria’s National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
Speaking as a panelist during the regulatory session at the 52nd African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference in Cairo, Egypt, Omosehin urged African insurance regulators to adopt the mindset of disruptors and “co-creators” alongside market innovators to effectively manage risks before they become systemic threats.
The panel, moderated by Tope Smart, Chairman of NEM Insurance Plc, featured regulatory counterparts from Ghana, Morocco, Namibia, and Bermuda.
Addressing the audience, Smart emphasized that increasing insurance penetration across the continent requires highly intentional and creative innovation to accelerate market growth.
Omosehin acknowledged that the market frequently outpaces regulators technologically, making a collaborative approach essential. To address this, he revealed that NAICOM has established an internal innovation hub to test ideas internally before deployment, alongside a regulatory sandbox that allows operators to test novel products on limited consumer segments under strict guidelines.
When evaluating new insurance concepts, Omosehin stated that NAICOM filters ideas through three primary criteria: the simplicity of the solution for ordinary citizens, the efficiency of 48-hour consumer feedback mechanisms, and the operator’s financial capacity to pay claims if things go wrong.
The commissioner highlighted a shift from rule-based to risk- and principle-based supervision in Nigeria, enabled by new legislation. This approach allows the commission to deploy regulatory resources proportionally, separating high-exposure entities, such as those holding multi-billion naira annuity portfolios, from low-risk micro-insurers focused on smallholder farmers and artisans.
To expand distribution beyond the traditional broker and agent channels—which currently generate over 70 percent of Nigeria’s insurance business—Omosehin pointed to the continent’s vast mobile phone and mobile wallet user base. With over 500 million mobile subscribers across Africa, NAICOM is aggressively pursuing authorization frameworks for mobile distribution and embedded insurance.
Omosehin noted that past regulatory friction between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NAICOM, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over jurisdictional boundaries has been resolved through ongoing inter-agency engagement, paving the way for unified financial inclusion initiatives.
As part of this modernization drive, Omosehin announced that NAICOM has licensed its first specialized insurtech entity under its new legal framework, affirming that the regulator is prepared to manage the accompanying risks through protective guardrails.
The commissioner also stressed the importance of relaxing regulatory rules for micro-insurance and Takaful (Islamic insurance) models to better capture low-income segments. He advocated for the involvement of community-based groups, cooperatives, and religious institutions to drive adoption, while praising grassroots penetration campaigns recently launched by industry bodies like the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).
While Smart emphasized that African stakeholders must be highly intentional and creative with innovation to drive market expansion.
He noted that the industry must depart from traditional practices and introduce novel solutions to accelerate insurance penetration across the continent.
Smart, who is a past president of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO), added that intentional innovation remains the key driver required to change the narrative and boost insurance acceptance on the continent.
