Operators in the Insurance industry have brainstormed on how to explore opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA.
They expressed their minds at the maiden edition of AfCFTA Workshop 2025, which held on Friday in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Commissioner, Technical, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Dr. Usman Jankara, said there was need for uniformity in terms of regulation for effective implementation of the AfCTA.
Jankara, raised strong concerns about that, pointing that without a harmonized regulation, it is virtually impossible to achieve.
According to him, there are questions around capital, governance system that will be in place, so having a harmonized framework for that is what will open up and create certainty.
A participant, Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe, highlighted the vast opportunities AfCFTA presents for cross-border expansion and harmonisation of insurance regulations across Africa.
Ezeibe, who chaired the ceremony, observed that with AfCFTA covering a region of $3.4 trillion GDP and 1.4 billion people, the sector anticipates increased demand for insurance services as regional value chains develop.
According to her, in 2022, NAICOM set up the Nigerian Insurance Industry Committee on African Continental Free Trade Area (NII-AfCFTA Committee).
Ezeibe added that the Committee is to, among other things, co-ordinate the Nigerian insurance industry’s strategie response to AfCFTA, as well as liaise with the AfCFTA Secretariat and other bodies in the implementation of the Agreement in the Nigerian insurance industry.
