Fakoyejo OlalekanThe adoption of insurance in Nigeria rose in 2022, as the industry recorded 18.47 per cent year-on-year growth in gross premium written between January to September last year.
Prime Business Africa analysis of financials belonging to 17 insurance companies showed the market in Nigeria, where penetration is below two per cent, posted N187.05 billion gross premium written year-to-September 2022, well above the N175.22 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.
Nigeria is far behind in Africa’s insurance market, with South Africa leading the way with about 70 per cent according to Brookings, a research and nonprofit public policy organisation.
In Africa’s insurance market, where services are divided into life insurance, non-life insurance, and reinsurance, Nigeria occupies the fifth spot behind Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa. The five countries account for about 84 per cent of Africa’s total market share.
Analysis of the industry’s performance in Nigeria last year showed that 17 companies recorded N187.05 billion in income from the gross premium in the review period of 2022, which is 6.75 per cent above the N175.22 billion turnover a year before.
Note that insurance companies operating in Nigeria are more than 17, however, they are the firms with their financials made available to the public because of their listing in the stock market, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
Top five performing insurance companies in Nigeria
The industry comprises of Mutual Benefit, Regency Alliance Insurance, AIICO Insurance, International Energy Insurance, Coronation Insurance, Universal Insurance, and Cornerstone Insurance.
Also jostling to act as insurance cover for the Nigerian market include Veritas Kapital Assurance, Sunu Assurances Nigeria, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Linkage Assurance and Lasaco Assurance.
Other notable mentions include NEM Insurance, Guinea Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, Axa Mansard Insurance and Prestige Assurance.
Prime Business Africa concluded on the top five performing insurance firms in Nigeria based on their gross premium income growth for the period under review.
Coronation Insurance
The firm posted the highest growth in gross premium income within the first nine months of 2022, as its turnover grew by 33.86 per cent to N13.88 billion, surpassing the N10.37 billion grossed in 2021.
- This was after recording N15.51 billion worth of premium written between January to September last year, which is 40.20 per cent higher than the N11.06 billion gross premium written in the corresponding period the previous year.
- As a result, Coronation Insurance was able to recover from its N711.12 million loss in the review period in 2021, closing last year’s period with N606.89 million.
Prestige Assurance
With 30.16 per cent growth in its grossed premium income year-to-September 2022, Prestige became the second-best performing insurance firm in Nigeria, closing the period at N8.75 billion, against the N6.72 billion recorded in 2021.
- Prestige Assurance also grew its gross premium written, as it rose by 37.48 per cent to N10.32 billion in 2022, above the N7.51 billion premium written in 2021.
- However, the growth in income wasn’t enough to grow the company’s net profit, which fell by –0.04 per cent to N936.74 billion last year, against the N937.08 billion profit after tax posted in 2021.
AXA Mansard
Axa Mansard took the third spot with 29.65 per cent growth in gross premium earnings, after posting a turnover of N52.47 million in the review period in 2022, having generated N40.47 million premium income in 2021.
- The growth was reflected in the gross premium written in the first nine months of last year, as Axa Mansard managed to grow it by 18.67 per cent to N57.89 million, up from N48.78 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
- Interestingly, the growth was no good for Axa Mansard’s bottom line, after it closed the period between January to September 2022 at N1.71 million, which is 55.04 per cent below the N3.80 million net profit in the same period a year before.
Mutual Benefit
In the first 9-month of 2022, Mutual Benefit reported that its premium turnover was N24.93 billion, which is 25.37 per cent higher than the N19.89 billion reported the previous year – making it the fourth top-performing firm.
- Like its industry peers, Mutual Benefit saw an increase in its gross premium written between January to September 2022, recording 17.29 per year-on-year growth, having closed the period with N26.33 billion, rising past the N22.45 billion reported in 2021.
- It was enough to hand the company N3.60 billion net profit in the first nine months last year, rescuing Mutual Benefit from the N3.46 billion loss in 2021.
AIICO Insurance
AIICO Insurance completed the top five performing insurance firms in Nigeria after recording 23.46 per cent growth in its gross income earnings between the first and third quarters in 2022. The company generated N63.51 billion, surpassing the N51.44 billion posted in 2021.
- In the same vein, the company’s gross premium written grew by 27.12 per cent last year to N69.50 billion, when compared to the N54.67 billion gross premium written in the same period in 2021.
- This enabled AIICO Insurance to record the second-highest growth of 152.8 per cent in net profit in 2022, closing the 9-month period with N6.13 billion, against the N2.42 billion profit after tax grossed in the corresponding period of 2021.
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