How Allianz and Sanlam are redefining Nigeria’s one trillion Naira insurance coverage market
With an estimated N2.5 trillion premium goal for Nigeria’s insurance coverage sector in 2025, world insurance coverage powerhouses like Sanlam, Allianz, and others are positioning themselves to harness the sector’s potential and revolutionize the trade.
Allianz, the German insurer with operations in practically 70 international locations and over 100 million prospects, underscores its world scale and affect. Sanlam, Africa’s largest non-banking {financial} companies supplier, maintains a big presence in additional than half of the continent’s 54 international locations and has demonstrated constant confidence in Nigeria’s insurance coverage market.
Having crossed the ₦1 trillion premium earnings mark in 2023, the Nigerian insurance coverage trade is poised for robust development. Olusegun Omosehin, Commissioner for Insurance coverage and CEO of the Nationwide Insurance coverage Fee (NAICOM), shares this optimism.
“Business statistics reveal a constant upward trajectory in premium technology. The market is prone to shut at about ₦2.5 trillion in 2025. The trade’s development is fascinating, given the important function of finance and insurance coverage in {economic} growth by liquidity creation, {financial} intermediation, and wealth safety,” Omosehin stated on the 2025 Insurance coverage Stakeholders’ Consultative Discussion board, organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Business (LCCI).
In line with the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s GDP rose by 3.2% in 2024. The finance and insurance coverage sector led the expansion, contributing a formidable 30.3% within the first 9 months of the yr, highlighting insurance coverage’s rising relevance to Nigeria’s trillion-dollar {economic} ambitions.
The upcoming passage of the Nigeria Insurance coverage Business Reform Act of 2024 will introduce a risk-based regulatory framework and lift capital thresholds, fortifying the trade’s basis.
This constructive outlook can also be mirrored in worldwide projections. Statista estimates the Nigerian insurance coverage market will attain $7.84 billion (over ₦12 trillion) in gross written premiums by 2025.
These alternatives have attracted elevated overseas curiosity. Worldwide insurers convey not solely capital but additionally innovation and world greatest practices, setting the stage for long-term trade transformation.
On the forefront are manufacturers like Allianz and Sanlam. Allianz was named the world’s prime insurance coverage model in Interbrand’s *Greatest World Manufacturers 2024* report, a recognition of its dominance and trustworthiness. With over 130 years of legacy, Allianz provides a various product vary — life, well being, property, and motor insurance coverage — alongside asset administration and threat options.
In Nigeria, Allianz is concentrated on reaffirming its world popularity by delivering tailor-made life and non-life insurance coverage choices for people and corporates, together with motor, journey, and residential insurance coverage options.
Sanlam, Africa’s main insurer by income (Statista, 2022), has established itself as a dominant power in Nigeria. Based over a century in the past in South Africa, it supplies specialised options throughout life insurance coverage, asset administration, and normal insurance coverage.
In Nigeria, Sanlam’s modern financial savings plans and {financial} safety merchandise are designed to fulfill the distinctive wants of people and companies. Its mix of native perception and worldwide experience makes it a trusted companion for thousands and thousands of Nigerians seeking to safe their {financial} future.
The Nigerian market can also be residence to AXA Mansard (France), Prudential Life Insurance coverage (UK), and Liberty Well being, all providing specialised insurance coverage companies.
Reinsurers comparable to Lloyd’s of London, AIG, PartnerRe, Hannover Re, and Swiss Re (which holds a stake in Leadway Group) present risk-sharing capability and {financial} backing to native operators.
The InsuResilience Funding Fund, managed by Swiss-based BlueOrchard Finance, has invested in Royal Trade Common Insurance coverage Firm (now Rex Assurance), additional strengthening Nigeria’s insurance coverage ecosystem. Marsh, a world insurance coverage dealer, additionally performs a strategic function in threat administration throughout the nation.
Regardless of the sector’s low penetration fee — simply 0.5% of GDP, in comparison with the worldwide common of seven% — projections stay robust. In line with GlobalData, the Nigerian insurance coverage market may develop at a compound annual development fee (CAGR) of seven.5% between 2023 and 2027, buoyed by urbanization, a rising center class, and regulatory reforms.
NAICOM has been proactive in making a extra aggressive and innovation-friendly setting. Nevertheless, insurers nonetheless face hurdles, together with low consciousness, cultural resistance, and {economic} volatility.
Business analysts consider world gamers like Allianz and Sanlam, with their confirmed monitor information and adaptableness, are well-positioned to rework these challenges into alternatives.
As these worldwide insurers broaden their attain and drive innovation, Nigeria’s insurance coverage sector stands on the point of a big transformation — one that might ship {financial} safety to thousands and thousands and cement insurance coverage as a pillar of nationwide {economic} resilience.
