Lack Of Public Understanding Keeps Nigeria’s Insurance Penetration Below 1% — Heirs

Low public understanding is the main reason insurance penetration in Nigeria remains below 1 per cent, the managing director of Heirs Life Assurance, Niyi Onifade and general insurance MD, Wole Fayemi, have said.

According to the duo, Nigeria’s insurance penetration remains among the lowest in the world despite the country’s large economy and population.

By comparison, South Africa’s rate stands at 11.5 per cent and Kenya’s at 2.1 per cent.

Speaking at a media parley in Lagos to mark Heirs Insurance Group’s 5th anniversary.

“Our nation’s challenges reveal that illiteracy and ignorance play critical roles across sectors of business, security and beyond,” Fayemi said. He stated further, “Insurance penetration is extremely low in Nigeria because of a lack of knowledge and awareness.”

To address the gap, the group has focused on education. Heirs Insurance Group this year opened the fifth edition of its Heirs Insurance Essay Championship, an annual competition open to students in JSS1–JSS3 nationwide.

The programme is designed to showcase pupils’ creativity while raising early awareness of insurance concepts.

“We are concentrating on educational institutions because when you elevate people’s minds you impact society and build the future,” Fayemi said.

“If people learn the behaviours and practices common in more advanced countries, they will internalise them. That’s why we are catching them young.”

The company also runs a hackathon for tertiary students as part of its youth-development initiatives. Fayemi added that, to his knowledge, no other insurer in Nigeria has invested as extensively in grassroots insurance education as Heirs Insurance Group.

Heirs executives said improving financial literacy and public trust are essential to lifting Nigeria’s insurance penetration and urged both industry players and regulators to prioritise mass awareness campaigns.