Three million Nigerians have Insurance policies

The Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, on Tuesday said over three million Nigerians have insurance policies.

Daniel, while commenting on efforts by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to ensure better penetration of insurance in the country, revealed that Nigerians holding insurance policies earlier were less than a million.

He, however, said various developments between 2007 and 2015 led to the increase in the number of Nigerian insurance policy holders.

Daniel said the commission would strive harder to ensure that more Nigerians purchased insurance policies.

“We will continue to drive the enforcement of Compulsory Insurance through the Market Restructuring and Development Initiatives,” he said.

He said the commission, through the establishment of Nigeria Insurance Industry Database (NIID) for effective verification of insurance policies, had brought more patronage to the industry.

Daniel said the commission had also developed insurance market for low income persons through the introduction of micro insurance scheme.

The commissioner said the scheme had given low income Nigerians access to affordable insurance policies.

He, however, said the insurance penetration was still low in the country when compared to other countries.

Daniel said 36 insurance companies were listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

He said the Nigerian insurance industry recently moved to 59th from 63th position in the performance rating of the global research center in the U.S.

NAN