Four years after the EndSARS protest that engulfed Nigeria in 2020, a report has shown that only about 3.6 per cent of affected businesses had insurance protection.
The report by Intelpoint, a data and research arm of Techpremier Media on ‘The Nigerian Insurance Industry’, shows that out of 388 interviewed business owners that suffered losses during the event, only 3.6 per cent of them have insurance coverage.
Babatunde Fajemirokun, managing director/CEO, AIICO Insurance Plc who wrote the foreword on the report said in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests, the insurance industry in Nigeria emerged not just as a financial safeguard, but also as a pillar of resilience for businesses and individuals alike.
Fajemirokun said claims amounting to approximately N9 billion were paid out to victims of looting and vandalism and therefore underscored the tangible impact of insurance in times of crisis.
The report further noted that a larger percentage of those with insurance coverage have at least a bachelor’s degree. Evidently, education levels somewhat play a role in whether people subscribe to an insurance product or not.
“Beyond education, age also appears to sway decisions, as there are older business owners with insurance coverage than younger ones.
This is because people with no insurance coverage for their businesses have backup plans for their friends and family, while others use periodic contributions (ajo, esusu, etc) and cooperative societies, among others.
A further breakdown of the EndSARS released earlier by the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) showed that 99 claims were settled on malicious damage; 8 claims on business interruption; 455 claims on burglary attacks, and 912 claims on fire and burned sites.
Following huge losses suffered by businesses during #EndSARS, NIA said that the insurance industry, in line with its role of providing financial intermediation and restoring businesses, quickly moved in to provide the necessary cushion for those that have insurance coverage.
At the end of the 2022 financial year, the industry’s gross premium income stood at N726.2 billion, while the total size of the market measured in terms of assets stood at N2.3 trillion.
This is premised on a strong performance at the end of the third quarter (Q3) 2023, which figures from the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM) show that the industry had the third quarter overshoot its full-year performance in 2022.
Rasaaq Salami, head, Corporate Communications and Market Development at NAICOM, quoting the Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Olorunda Thomas during a media briefing shortly after Insurers Committee Meeting held in Lagos December, said the industry has done well both in the area of gross premium income and in claims payment in 2023.
Giving the breakdown of the industry performances since 2021 till date, Salami he said, “In 2021 we had a gross premium income of N621 billion and by 2022 we had N726 billion, and by the half year of 2023 we had N551 billion.”
With the third quarter report, we have already exceeded the annual premium of the last year 2022 and by the time we close this year, we might be hitting the N1trillion mark based on that assessment, we think the industry has performed very well, Salami said.
