Twelve operators have applied for micro insurance licences, as part of the financial inclusion drive in the country.
The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its financial inclusion newsletter for the fourth quarter of 2019.
The National Insurance Commission in 2018 released a set of guidelines for micro insurance operation in Nigeria.
The document set out various steps for the registration of micro insurance operators, and their modus operandi.
In order to ensure a more extensive reach among the population, especially at the grassroots level, the regulator classified the operators into three categories – unit (local), state and national operators.
The minimum capital base for micro insurance operators was pegged at N15m for life operators at the unit level and N25m for general business operators.
For operators at the national level, N200m and N400m minimum capital bases were fixed for life and general business respectively.
These were said to be part of the efforts by NAICOM to boost insurance penetration through many micro insurers that were expected to operate in the 774 local government areas in the country.
With the capital requirement, there was an envisaged departure from the current concentration of underwriters in a few urban areas with focus on big-ticket transactions and move into the hinterlands.
The maximum sum insured for any policy being underwritten by the micro-insurance operators was pegged at N2m while time limit for payment of fully documented claims was 48 hours, according to the guidelines.
On the Nigeria Financial Services Maps, the CBN stated that a technical development of the map had been completed and user acceptance tests conducted.
It stated, “An issue log is being worked on in conjunction with Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, on the required improvements to the look and feel, user navigation, reports and go-live documentation of the NFSMaps.
“In addition to the above, a critical discussion on the use of airtime for insurance premium held during the meeting. Case studies on climes where micro-insurance premiums are being paid using airtime deductions were presented to the committee for deliberation.”
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance received approval-in-principle from the NAICOM to operate CHI Micro Insurance Limited.
It described micro insurance as the type of insurance developed for the low-income segment of the population.
“Such insurance was expected to be low valued with simple features, easy to understand and whose delivery/distribution channels must be efficient,” it stated.
