Ebere Nwoji
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has said that the insurance sector raised a total of N1.079 trillion during the recently concluded recapitalisation exercise.
The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Ayo Omosehin, stated this while giving an update of the recapitalisation exercise in the insurance industry to the media during the weekend.
He said the exercise was successfully concluded in line with the Minimum Capital Requirements (MCR) guidelines issued by the commission and in line with the stipulations of Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act( NIIRA 2025).
According to him, 48 insurance companies and two reinsurance companies scaled the recapitalisation hurdle and had been appropriately relicensed.
He said among the recapitalised companies, 24 of them raised money through various capital raising options such as Righs Issues, private placement, public offer, special placement and fresh equity injection among other options, adding that some insurance firms were serious minded and had more than the minimum required capital as their capital base even before the recapitalisation exercise.
The fund he said is domiciled in Escrow Accounts of the insurance firms with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with recapitalisation guidelines.
Omosehin assured the fund owners that the money would be released to them for operations on or before September 30th, 2026.
He said the recapitalisation exercise produced 48 primary insurance underwriters now well positioned to carry larger risks unlike before and two reinsurance firms .
“We have handed over their new licenses to them, and they have since renewed their strength in protecting and providing resilience to the Nigerian people,” he said.
The commissioner disclosed that six insurance licences had been cancelled following the exercise.
The affected companies are Nicon Insurance, Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, Goldlink, Staco Insurance, Royal Exchange Prudential Insurance and Universal Insurance.
Omosehin also said that the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) could not meet the requirement for general insurance business.
He said the corporation’s licence to underwrite general insurance business had consequently been withdrawn.
NAIC, which had previously been underwriting agricultural schemes as well as general insurance business, would, now continue to underwrite agricultural schemes in line with its traditional mandate.
“However, they can no longer write general insurance business, i.e. Motor, Fire, the rest of them, and the host of them. That license has been withdrawn, but they will continue to write agric schemes in line with their original mandate,” the commissioner said.
NAICOM also reassured policyholders of the failed insurance firms that they would get adequate protection despite the demise of their policy providers.
He said the affected entities remain protected, explaining that the first layer of protection would involve liquidators or receivers appointed to realise the assets of the companies and attend to policyholder obligations.
He however said that since some affected entities had chosen to challenge the process in court, the relevant processes would have to be completed before the resolution of their policyholder obligations could proceed.
Omosehin further explained that where the assets of an affected entity are insufficient to meet its total obligations to policyholders, the Policyholders Protection Fund would be available to cover the gap.
He explained that the affected companies could no longer write insurance business following the cancellation of their licences, effective from August 1.
According to him, policyholders seeking to renew their insurance arrangements with such entities would have to move their policies to existing licensed insurance companies.
He said the recapitalisation exercise had now moved beyond the capital-raising phase, with the focus shifting to a stronger and more financially capable insurance market.