Senate passes insurance reform bill replacing the 1997 NAICOM Act

The Senate has passed a bill reforming the regulation of insurance in Nigeria, replacing the National Insurance Commission Act of 1997. The 1997 framework long predates the scale and structure of the market it governs, and reform has been expected for some years.

For our commercial and project finance clients the interest is practical rather than regulatory. Insurance sits inside a great many transactions as a condition of lending, a requirement of a construction contract, or the security behind a landlord's or employer's obligations. Changes to how insurers are regulated and capitalised eventually reach those clauses.

We are monitoring the passage of the legislation and will advise clients where their existing contractual insurance requirements need revisiting once the final text is settled.