The number of insurance agents in the industry has hit 6,700 as operators in the sector move to increase penetration according to the National Insurance Commission.
The Assistant Director, Corporate Strategy and Special Duties, NAICOM, Dr Usman Jankara, disclosed this during his presentation titled ‘The insurance sector and the Nigerian economy: Impact, challenges and the new frontiers’, at a retreat for journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
According to the data he presented, intermediaries in the insurance industry consisted of “600 insurance brokers, 56 loss adjusters and 6,700 insurance agents.”
He also disclosed that the composite insurance companies licensed in the country were 12, life underwriters -13, non-life underwriters- 27, reinsurers-three, Takaful- four, microinsurance- seven, and web aggregators- three.
From N282.9bn in 2015 to N726.2bn in 2022, he said, annual average growth in gross premium income was 15 per cent.
He said industry assets grew from N917.3bn in 2015 to N2.328tn in 2022, showing a growth of 60.6 per cent.
According to him, the Nigerian insurance industry’s loss ratio for 2015 to 2022 had remained within tolerable limits, making the sector relatively one of the most profitable globally.
He said some of the challenges of the insurance sector from the demand factor were insurance apathy and complexity, income level, environmental influence, beliefs and culture among others.