Economy
Nigeria’s Insurance Premiums Grow Above N1trn
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has revealed that Nigeria’s insurance sector crossed the N1 trillion mark as the industry recorded a total premium of N1.003 trillion in the last quarter of 2023 (Q4 2023).
In a statement titled Market Performance At A Glance-Q4 -2023 released by the Statistics Department Directorate of Research, Statistics and Publications, it was disclosed that, “The insurance industry of Nigeria has sustained its progressive trend of positive market performance at the close of 2023 fourth quarter, recording a milestone growth to close at N1.003 trillion, representing about 27 per cent growth compared to the N790 billion recorded in 2022.”
The commission gave a breakdown of how the premium was generated, saying the non-life business accounted for 61.3 per cent of all premiums written during the year while the life segment contributed 38.7 per cent valued at N388.1 billion.
The statement further said the market also recorded a retention of about 87.7 per cent for the life business, just about 54 per cent for non-life, while the aggregate market average retention stood at 66.7 per cent during the same period.
According to NAICOM, the major growth drivers in the non-life segment of the market were oil & gas and fire insurance, which contributed 27.3 per cent and 24.1 per cent, respectively. Motor insurance contributed N114.8 billion, general accident generated N59.1 billion, and marine raked in N69.1 billion.
Net motor insurance premiums stood at N100.3 billion, fire recorded N75.3 billion, general accident posted 39.0 billion, marine reported 33.5, while oil and gas stood at N54.6 billion.
In terms of market performance percentages – motor insurance polled 66.5 per cent, fire polled 46.9 per cent, general accident posted 6.7 per cent, marine recorded 30.9 per cent, while oil and gas reported 25.5 per cent.
Talking in terms of claims settlement for the period, the commission said, “Direct reflection to the ongoing regulatory measures regarding claims settlement, the life business recorded about 95 per cent of net claims to the total recorded claims during the year while the market average stood at about 71.4 per cent of the N536.5 billion gross claims reported at the close of fourth quarter, 2023.”
The agency further noted that in a direct reflection of its “no-premium no-cover” policy, the outstanding premium has continued to decline, as the industry posted just 1.6 per cent outstanding of all the premiums generated in the market during the period.
It further said within the period under review, total assets of the sector stood at about N2.67 trillion, while capitalisation stood at N851 billion in 2023.
Giving a break down of claims payment by various classes, NAICOM said the motor insurance class paid gross claims of N32.1 billion and net claims of N31.0 billion, the fire insurance class paid gross claims of N61.5 billion and net claims of N41.3 billion, general accident paid gross claims of N22.3 billion and net claims of 17.0 billion, marine class had gross claims of N16.9 billion and net claims of 12.0 billion while oil and gas class had gross claims of N157.1 billion and net of N54.6 billion.
In terms of market size NAICOM said non-life had N1.669 billion assets, life had N1.00 billion, bringing the market aggregate to N2.673 billion, while by market capitalisation, non-life had N670.2 billion and life totaled N180.9 billion, bringing the aggregate to N851.0 billion.
In terms of outstanding premiums, the non-life outstanding premium stood at just 2.5 per cent of the total premium, while life was pegged at 0.2 per cent bringing the aggregate of outstanding premium for the industry in the period under review to 1.6 per cent.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria slightly surpassed its quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in July 2026.
In the month under review, the country produced about 1.57 million barrels of crude oil per day.
It was the third consecutive month Africa’s largest oil-producing nation was meeting its monthly quota, set to stabilise the price of the commodity on the global market by the oil cartel.
Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday showed that the 1.5 million barrels per day ceiling for Nigeria was surpassed last month.
The agency disclosed in a statement today that the country produced 1.505mbpd of crude oil and 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing the combined daily production to 1.67mbpd.
In the month under review, the daily peak production of crude oil and condensate was 1.78mbpd, while the lowest daily production was 1.57mbpd.
Although Nigeria met its OPEC quota in the month of July, the statistics show that on a month-on-month basis, production fell by 4 per cent.
This was attributed to the decline in production due to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpo fields, which impacted crude oil output during the period under review.
These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output.
Despite the challenges, production operations across most other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimising the impact of operational constraints, NUPRC stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The over 9 billion shares of Lasaco Assurance Plc issued to shareholders of the company via a rights issue have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The equities were brought to Customs Street on Wednesday by the organisation, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up share capital.
Lasaco Assurance, which scaled the recapitalisation hurdle of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in July 2026, raised fresh capital from the capital market to shore up its capital base.
The underwriting firm got about N18.5 billion from the rights issue, which involved the issuance of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares at a unit price of N2.00.
The exercise was on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Confirming the listing of the additional stocks of Lasaco Assurance today, the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, announced in a circular that, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Lasaco Assurance Plc were today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N2.00 per share on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
“With the listing of the additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Lasaco Assurance Plc has now increased from 11,083,585,855 to 20,319,907,401 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has said the successful recapitalisation of the insurance industry will strengthen the sector’s ability to support financial stability and economic growth.
NIA Chairman, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said a well-capitalised insurance industry would be better positioned to meet its obligations promptly, underwrite complex and large-scale risks and serve as a dependable pillar of the Nigerian economy.
She made the remarks while commending the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for its structured implementation of the new minimum capital requirements under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
Mrs Nwachukwu said NAICOM’s clear guidelines, systematic verification process, defined timelines and rigorous supervision had provided operators with a credible framework for navigating the recapitalisation exercise.
She described the outcome as a major milestone for the industry and congratulated the 43 insurance and reinsurance companies that have successfully met the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
According to her, the exercise represents “a major win not just for regulators and operators, but for policyholders, investors and the wider Nigerian economy.”
Mrs Nwachukwu said the association would continue to work with NAICOM and other stakeholders to consolidate the gains of the exercise, with emphasis on sustainable industry growth, stronger market conduct and improved consumer confidence.
The official also expressed solidarity with the eight companies still undergoing final verification and regulatory review, urging them to remain confident as NAICOM completes the process within the 14-day review period.
The NIA chairman assured policyholders and the wider business community that the insurance industry would emerge from the recapitalisation exercise stronger, more resilient and better positioned to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.
