Omosehin: Africa Insurance Market Commands $68bn Premium Pool

Ebere Nwoji

Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Ayo Olusegun Omosehin, has said that despite the recorded gap in Africa’s insurance penetration, the continent commands an estimated $68 billion premium pool, signalling strong underlying demand where access exists. 

Omosehin who spoke in a high-level panel discussion at the 52nd African Insurance Organisation Conference in Cairo Egypt, challenged the regional Insurance leaders to see Africa’s low insurance penetration  problem as a multi- billion- dollar opportunity rather than limitation.

“The gap is not about willingness to pay, it is about our ability to design and distribute products that reach people where they are,” Omosehin stated.

The regional insurance leaders admitted that distribution failure, not lack of demand was the primary driver of low insurance penetration in the region pointing out that traditional  agent-based models  have failed  to reach up to 90 percent of the addressable population, particularly in rural and informal sectors. 

The discussion panellists emphasised that scaling insurance across Africa required a shift to mobile-first distribution, embedded insurance models, community-based delivery channels and digital Infrastructure unlocking access.

They noted that Africa’s  rapidly expanding digital ecosystem was enabling this transformation as over 500 million mobile subscribers, more than 350 million mobile wallets as platforms provided ready-made infrastructure for low-cost, scalable insurance distribution and claims payments. 

The panel highlighted the importance of regulatory evolution in unlocking growth, particularly transitioning from rule-based to principles-based supervision, implementing risk-based capital frameworks,  expanding regulatory sandboxes for innovation. 

The leaders cited Nigeria’s NIIRA 2025 reform agenda  as a leading example, adding that it promotes  flexibility, innovation, and proportional oversight.