There are indications that many Nigerian middle class are returning to life insurance policies to hedge against worsening economic and security environment.
Financial Vanguard findings from the latest data of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, show that life insurance premium increased significantly by 18.2 per cent to N309.1 billion in 2022 from N261.4 billion in 2021.
Growth rate in life insurance policy had tumbled to 2.2 percent in 2020 after reaching a high of 25.5 percent the previous year, 2019. Industry operators told Financial Vanguard that they expect sustained increase in life insurance business as awareness grows and the economy situation remained uncertain. They had attributed the drastic decline to the impact of COVID-19 during the year when many businesses were affected.
But they also said the pandemic indirectly spurred a recovery as individuals must have factored in the uncertainties of life into a renewed push for life insurance policy. Accordingly, most life and savings products introduced by insurance companies after the pandemic were embraced by the insuring public.
Speaking to Financial Vanguard on the development, Chief Financial Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Mrs. Ngozi Ola-Israel, noted that the introduction of some life savings products after the pandemic impacted on the growth in life premium. She said: “For us in Axa Mansard, life volume acceleration was spurred by the fast onboarding of some new life savings product.
However, many insurance firms also introduced some innovations around the life insurance product and services. Speaking to this, Managing Director of Sanlam Life Insurance Nigeria Limited, Mr. Tunde Mimiko, noted that the partnership with fintech companies in selling insurance boosted growth in life business. He said: “Many insurance companies are going into partnerships with fintech and telecommunication companies to sell cheap insurance policies and this has contributed in the growth of life business. “Imagine that you can sit in your house and just press some numbers on your phone and you have life insurance.
“For us in Sanlam, our partnership with MTN to sell cheap life insurance has created some remarkable awareness for us and it is boosting life business. “So for us, we are recording improved performance through an improved distribution network, process automation, and client retention.” Some life insurance policies in the market are group life assurance plans, children education plan, endowment plans, child insurance plans etc.
“For us in Sanlam, our partnership with MTN to sell cheap life insurance has created some remarkable awareness for us and it is boosting life business. “So for us, we are recording improved performance through an improved distribution network, process automation, and client retention.” Some life insurance policies in the market are group life assurance plans, children education plan, endowment plans, child insurance plans etc.
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