NIA launches innovation lab to drive insurance growth
Call for application is open for 3-4 weeks via NIA channels and partner networks.
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Chuks Udo Okonta
The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) today launched the NIA Innovation Lab, a 6-week accelerator program aimed at driving innovation within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The initiative seeks to identify and support startups and scale-ups developing solutions in critical areas as identified by the industry.
It would also attract top innovators to tackle critical shared industry problems; equip participants with deep context on insurance in Nigeria; facilitate structured engagement between insurers and innovators and enabled collective adoption and investment opportunity by NIA members.
The Chairman of NIA Kunle Ahmed, at the launch in Lagos, said in his inauguration speech presented on October 30, 2024, he identified the need for increased attention to digital innovations and solutions by the insurance companies in Nigeria and made a commitment to launch an innovation challenge with selected partners pitching digital solutions for some of our processes.
He submitted that the launch of the 2025 NIA Innovation Lab, is a landmark moment in the journey to redefine insurance practice in Nigeria.
“Today, we are not just opening a facility. We are igniting a movement. A movement rooted in innovation, driven by collaboration, and destined to transform the way we protect lives, assets and futures.
“Innovation is not a luxury; it is a necessity. As Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” At the Nigerian Insurers Association, we have chosen to lead.
“The lab is the Our commitment to that leadership. It is a space where ideas will be nurtured, technologies will be tested, and solutions will be born. It is where the future of insurance will be imagined and built,” he posited.
He stated that the median age of Nigerians is 18 years, indicating that we have a youthful population, the population that will join the workforce in the coming years and who would likely want to be served digitally or at least differently.
“I therefore envisions a Nigerian insurance industry that is agile, inclusive, and digitally empowered. One that leverages artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data analytics not just to improve efficiency, but to deepen trust and expand access,” he submitted.
He said the lab is the association’s way of bringing new learnings into its preparation for tomorrow, whilst expressing gratitude to the NIA Advisory Committee on Digital Innovation & IT, member companies, especially AXA Mansard Insurance Plc and AIICO Insurance Plc, team at NIA and strategic partner, Impact Hub, Lagos who have embraced the vision with open arms and worked hard to translate the vision into reality.
Ahmed implored the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to walk with the Association, and the tech partners to push them, whilst member companies, to invest in this future. “And to every Nigerian: believe in the power of innovation to strengthen the protection of assets and maintain standards of living.
“As we unveil the 2025 NIA Innovation Lab today, let us remember the words of Maya Angelou: “If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” Let us dare to be amazing,” he posited.
Chairman NIA Innovation Committee and Managing Director AIICO Insurance Plc Babatunde Fajemirokun, said the project appeals to all the arms of the insurance industry, stressing that the NIA will continue to collaborate with the other trade groups in the industry to drive innovations.
A Member of the Innovation Lab Steering Committee Adedamola Oloko, while presenting the Innovation Lab
Framework, said a call for application is open for 3-4 weeks via NIA channels and partner networks.
According to him people eligible to apply are Startups with solutions addressing selected themes and Functional MVP or well- researched concept; equity/pilot partnerships with insurers.
He submitted that applicants can be based in Nigeria or elsewhere but must localize solution for Nigerian context.
According to him there would shortlist of 15-20 applicants for Pitch Day, while final cohort of five startups would be selected by a panel of industry & non-industry experts.
On the program overview, he stated that the first edition of the NIA Innovation Lab 2025 program will take its focus from the results of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Innovation Survey carried out by the Nigerian Insurers Association, stressing that this offers a platform to catalyze innovation in Nigeria’s insurance sector by addressing key industry-wide challenges in Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) processes and a Claims Exchange systems
