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Nigerian Microfinance Platform (NMP) Symposium 2021 White Paper: microinsurance in Nigeria

The pursuit of financial inclusion as a vehicle for economic development, poverty reduction, and the improvement of people’s welfare has encouraged many countries to adopt national financial inclusion strategies. Nigeria launched its National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012, with the aims of reducing the financial exclusion rate to 20% and increasing access to insurance to 40% among Nigerian adults by 2020. Despite the efforts and gradual progress registered, the country remains far from achieving these targets. The current financial inclusion landscape reveals gaps in inclusion efforts but also suggests immense potential for growth through digital financial services and microinsurance. Based on evidence from international markets, microinsurance can play a pivotal role in accelerating financial inclusion, by helping improve the resilience of low-income households and businesses. Microinsurance can also be an effective risk management tool to deal with specific perils and help gain access to vital services.
In this context, developing the growing Nigerian microinsurance market presents opportunities for improvement and innovation. This will require continuing key efforts already underway as well as learning from global best practices in microinsurance to identify new ways to develop the industry.