Yemisi Izuora
Business Monitor International (BMI) a global research firm has predicted that with a share of nearly 70 percent in total written non-life premiums by 2016, non-life insurance is by far the more important segment in Nigeria’s insurance sector.
Notably, with insurance penetration rates of around 0.2 percent, non-life insurance is only slightly more developed than life insurance, BMI said adding, “We have a positive outlook for both Nigeria’s life and non-life insurance segments over the coming years”.
The firm noted that key growth drivers reside in the country’s improving economic conditions, which means that with rising incomes and a growing middle class, increasingly more Nigerians will be able to afford long term
and short-term insurance contracts as their rates of auto and home ownership increase.
“We note, however, that currency movements due to falling oil prices and national security issues may weigh on the growth potential of life and non-life premiums.
We expect, however, that life insurance will continue to outpace its non-life counterpart over the next five years, which means that increasingly more Nigerians are recognising the benefits of life insurance” it said.
Overall, both major segments will show rapid growth rates over the foreseeable future, which to a large extent are related to Nigeria’s economic development, BMI predicted.