Why insurance penetration is low in Nigeria – NCRIB

2026 Inaugural Annual Insurance Week at NAU, Awka on Tuesday

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers has identified exclusion of pensions and micro insurance drivers, lack of technology as well as ignorance as reasons for low insurance penetration in Nigeria. 2026 Inaugural Annual Insurance Week at NAU, Awka on Tuesday The President, NCRIB, Mrs Ekeoma Ezeibe, raised the concerns on Tuesday at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State during the 2026 Inaugural Annual Insurance Week. She regretted that insurance penetration of other countries, including South Africa and Kenya were far higher than that of Nigeria. According to her, while Nigeria’s insurance penetration is below one percent, that of South Africa is nearly 12 percent whereas Kenya is above 7 percent. “But to be realistic, looking at South Africa and Kenya vis-a-vis their insurance market, and the drivers of their insurance penetration, you discover they are mostly pensions and micro insurance. “But in Nigeria, pension which used to be part of insurance in Nigeria, is now excised with introduction of Pension Reforms Act and now domiciled with the National Pension Commission. “If you check how many trillions that are domiciled from Pension Funds with PenCom, you can imagine what will happen if it is brought into the insurance net in Nigeria. Ezeibe noted that if pension funds are brought into the Nigerian insurance net, insurance penetration would have shot up just like that of the South African and Kenyan markets. “Another driver in other countries are micro insurance. Yes, Nigeria hasn’t paid attention to micro insurance until later. “As a result, the National Insurance Commission which is our regulator now started licensing micro insurance companies so they can take care of those not financially included in the insurance safety net. “The micro insurance companies have been licensed to underwrite businesses from the low income generators like the artisans, farmers, food vendors, petty traders and others. Related News Telcos under pressure to resolve fibre broadband bottlenecks LagRide rolls out new vehicles for graduate trainees DMO targets N1.2tn via major bond reopenings “When you congregate all these people into the insurance safety net, you can then appreciate that little drops of water can really make a mighty ocean. “Another reason for low insurance penetration is because Nigeria has not fully employed technology which is now globally accepted due to its ease of doing business, speed and efficiency characteristics.” While identifying ignorance as another reason for th