Experts in the financial services sector have charged insurance practitioners to capitalize on opportunities in the 2025 budget to drive insurance penetration.
Speaking at the year 2025 business outlook themed: "Budget of restoration: Insurance industry tool for unlocking sustainable growth", organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN, the experts stressed that insurers need to adopt technology to drive penetration.
While speaking on the theme, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, Partner, Financial Services Industry, Audit Division, KPMG Nigeria, said that the insurance sector needs to target the over 150 million insurable people in Nigeria and create retail products that will serve the population.
He stated: "Nigeria has over 150 million people, therefore we need to collaborate more to drive insurance awareness and penetration in the retail segment of the market".
Speaking on areas in the budget where insurers should focus on, Ashade said: "There has been steady increases of budget deficit from 2022 to 2025 and year 2025 saw a significant jump. Also, infrastructure and works have sizeable budgetary allocations, hence there will be involvement of SMEs and, there will be carryon effects in the execution of projects in terms of engagement and employment and the opportunities will be in group life insurance, goods in transit, marine insurance as well as health insurance.
"Every region seems to have development commission with budgetary allocations, so what will happen in that space is that there will be a whole lot of infrastructure renewal and development which will need the involvement of the insurance sector."
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Also speaking, Mr. Oyekanmi Aboyeji, Senior Manager and Team Lead, Transfer Pricing Audit Division of Federal Inland Revenue Service, International Tax Department., stated that insurers should be seen as agent of change.
He said: "To drive penetration, the insurance sector need to leverage on technology for risk management in the country. To achieve sustainable growth, insurers should be seen as agents of change and they should pursue or support projects that are pro climate."
Meanwhile, while giving the keynote address, Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Olusegun Omosehin stated that as a significant sector to this economy, insurance has to be an integral part of the growth process and the sector must find its relevance now such that it is not left behind.
Omosehin said: "The 2025 budget aptly titled budget of restoration offering peace and rebuilding prosperity is carefully developed to address the complex challenges facing us as a nation.
"We must note the pivotal role of insurance in our economic restoration journey. Our role as an industry cannot be under-estimated in terms of creating the economic stability and the risk management mechanisms, wealth and asset protection, financial market stability, and truly engendering confidence in the restoration process by presenting insurance as the confidence booster.
This and many others will showcase the Nigerian insurance industry as the key driver of the restoration agenda."
