Nigeria: NAICOM Reaffirms Commitment to Takaful Insurance Development

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has restated its commitment to advancing the growth and development of Takaful insurance in Nigeria.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Commission said the reaffirmation was made during a courtesy visit by members of the Takaful Advisory Council (TAC), where discussions focused on strategies to deepen and strengthen the Takaful insurance sub-sector in the country.

NAICOM recalled that it introduced Takaful insurance guidelines in March 2013 to provide a regulatory framework for operators in the market. The Commission noted that the adoption of Takaful insurance followed extensive research and was designed to enhance financial inclusion by expanding access to insurance products for underserved segments of the population.

While welcoming the Council members, the Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, praised the TAC for its dedication and contributions to the development of Takaful insurance in Nigeria. He described the engagement as an interactive session aimed at identifying opportunities for expansion and areas requiring improvement within the sub-sector.

Omosehin highlighted Nigeria’s population of over 200 million as a significant opportunity for Takaful insurance growth, stressing that its market appeal extends beyond religious considerations. He added that the primary challenge lies in effectively harnessing this potential through greater awareness and increased participation.

He also underscored NAICOM’s developmental mandate, noting its importance to the overall growth of the insurance industry. Omosehin recalled that President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigerian Insurance Reform Act 2025 into law on July 31, 2025, formally recognising Takaful insurance as an integral part of Nigeria’s insurance framework. He described the development as a major milestone for the industry.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Takaful Advisory Council, Professor Abdulrazzaq Alaro, congratulated NAICOM’s management on the enactment of the NIIRA 2025, describing it as a landmark achievement. He urged the Commission, as the industry regulator, to intensify awareness campaigns for Takaful insurance, identifying low awareness as one of the sector’s key challenges.

Alaro also called for increased capacity-building initiatives, including retreats, workshops, and training programmes for stakeholders across the broader insurance industry, beyond Takaful operators alone.

In his closing remarks, Omosehin expressed confidence that future growth in Nigeria’s insurance sector would be driven by financial inclusion–focused segments such as microinsurance, Takaful insurance, and web aggregators. He added that engagements between NAICOM and the Takaful Advisory Council would be formalised as an annual meeting to further unlock the sector’s growth potential.