THE Nigerian Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has identified uniformity in regulation for effective implementation and leveraging of the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Deputy Commissioner, Technical, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Dr. Usman Jankara, who represented the Commissioner for Insurance stated this at a brainstorming session with the industry’s operators on how to explore opportunities in the AfCFTA, during the maiden AfCFTA Workshop 2025 in Lagos.
He said there was need for uniformity in regulation for effective implementation of the AfCTA, pointing out that without a harmonized regulation, it would be virtually impossible to achieve.
Jankara noted that the NAICOM is strengthening efforts to mobilize the insurance industry towards leveraging opportunities provided by the AfCFTA, although some gaps exist that could limit access to full exploitation of opportunities which the initiative presents.
He raised questions about capital and governance system that would be in place, and highlighted that having a harmonized framework would open up and create certainty.
Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe, who chaired the event, highlighted the vast opportunities AfCFTA presents for cross-border expansion and harmonisation of insurance regulations across Africa.
Ezeibe observed that with AfCFTA covering a region of $3.4 trillion GDP and 1.4 billion people, the sector anticipates increased demand for insurance services as regional value chains develop.
“As the AfCFTA eventually harmonises trade and investment regulations across member countries, it is critical that the insurance sector of Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, begins to contemplate the following opportunities and challenges in a continent-wide insurance regulatory regime: Harmonisation of insurance regulations among state parties in order to achieve market confidence and growth and a regulatory balance that protects consumers; multinationalism and reciprocity; standardization of practice; cross-boarder opportunities and risks; trade in services without barrier; intra-continental movement of personnel; and creation of a single big market as against a near stagnant market.”
She pointed out that in 2022, NAICOM set up the Nigerian Insurance Industry Committee on African Continental Free Trade Area (NII-AfCFTA Committee) to, among other things, coordinate the Nigerian insurance industry’s strategie response to AfCFTA, as well as liaise with the AfCFTA Secretariat and other bodies in the implementation of the Agreement in the Nigerian insurance industry.
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