Recapitalisation: NAICOM deploys verifiers as 20 insurers signal readiness
By Nike Popoola
The ongoing recapitalisation exercise in Nigeria’s insurance industry is gathering momentum as no fewer than 20 insurance companies have written to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) indicating that they are capitalised and ready for verification ahead of the July 2026 deadline.
The Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, disclosed this during a press conference with insurance correspondents in Lagos on Wednesday.
Omosehin explained that although the companies have signalled readiness for verification, none has officially met the recapitalisation threshold set by the regulator.
“As I speak, nobody has crossed the line. As of today, 20 companies have written to us that they are ready for verification, that we should come and verify them, but that does not mean they have crossed,” he said.
“What we did is to allocate them to verifiers, the consultants that will do the work. Those people are already on the field. We have given them a timeframe to complete the exercise and report back to us. We have not even done verification. NAICOM has never announced that even one company has crossed the recapitalisation hurdle.”
He stressed that until the verification exercise is concluded and formally announced by the Commission, no insurer can be regarded as having met the recapitalisation requirement.
The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025 introduced higher Minimum Capital Requirements (MCR) for insurance companies and provided a 12-month deadline for compliance.
Under the new requirements, the minimum capital base for life insurance companies was increased from ₦2 billion to ₦10 billion, while that of non-life insurers rose from ₦3 billion to ₦10 billion. Reinsurance companies are now required to raise their capital from ₦10 billion to ₦35 billion.
Industry stakeholders say the recapitalisation is expected to strengthen insurers’ financial capacity to underwrite larger risks, improve solvency, and boost public confidence in the sector’s ability to meet claims obligations.
The reform is also aimed at improving the industry’s risk retention capacity and reducing reliance on foreign reinsurance. The recapitalisation programme, designed to reposition the insurance sector for greater resilience and competitiveness, is expected to conclude by July 30, 2026.
