BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), on Monday launched the NIA Innovation Lab, an accelerator program aimed at driving innovation within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The Innovation Lab, a 6-week accelerator program is aimed at driving innovation within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
This initiative seeks to identify and support startups and scale-ups developing solutions in critical areas as identified by the industry.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of NIA, Mr. Kunle Ahmed , said “This lab is our commitment to that leadership. It is a space where ideas will be nurtured, technologies will be tested, and solutions will be born. It is where the future of insurance will be imagined and built.
“The median age of Nigerians is 18 years, indicating that we have a youthful population, the population that will join the workforce in the coming years and who would likely want to be served digitally or at least differently. Ie therefore envisions a Nigerian insurance industry that is agile, inclusive, and digitally empowered. One that leverages artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data analytics not just to improve efficiency, but to deepen trust and expand access.
“As William Pollard reminded us, “Learning & innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” This lab is our way of bringing new learnings into our preparation for tomorrow.”
“To our innovators, this is your playground. Your launchpad. Your opportunity to shape the future. As Elon Musk put it, “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.” We invite you to embrace change, challenge norms, and create solutions that matter.
“To our regulators, who are already switched on to the topic: please, walk with us. To our tech partners: push us. To our member companies: invest in this future. And to every Nigerian: believe in the power of innovation to strengthen the protection of assets and maintain standards of living.”
Mr Babatunde Fajemirokun, Chairman, NIA Advisory Committee on Digital Innovation and IT, while presenting his paper said “The data reveal a sector ready to embrace innovation, with 87 per cent of executives expressing willingness to collaborate on shared solutions and 69 per cent confirming readiness to commit resources in 2025.
“Customer experience, acquisition, KYC, and distribution rank as the top priorities for innovation.
“Fraud management, eKYC, and claims exchange emerged as the most promising areas for industry-wide collaboration,” he said.
Also, Damola Oloko, Innovation lead for the project, said that interested innovators would be engaged in a 6-week accelerator programme.
On the objectives and expected outcomes he said” lab will attract top innovators to tackle critical shared industry problems and equip participants with deep context on insurance in Nigeria.
“ It will facilitate structured engagement between insurers and innovators and enable collective adoption and investment opportunity by NIA members.”
