Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA)
Act · Technology
Policy date: 2026-03-04
An Act modernizes Nigeria's insurance industry by consolidating laws and enhancing consumer protection. It targets insurance companies, intermediaries, and regulators to ensure transparency and innovation. This strengthens the sector's competitiveness and resilience.
What Is This Policy?
NIIRA 2025 is Nigeria’s new master law for insurance, designed to modernize the industry, protect consumers, and make insurance more transparent, digital, and growth-oriented.
Who Does It Target?
NIIRA targets insurance companies, intermediaries, regulators, and consumers making sure the industry is well-regulated, trustworthy, and aligned with Nigeria’s economic growth goals.
What Does It Aim to Achieve?
It aims to modernize Nigeria’s insurance industry, protect consumers, strengthen regulation, and drive innovation making the sector more competitive and resilient.
Key Features
Comprehensive Legal Framework: consolidates and modernizes all insurance laws into a single statute, repealing the outdated Insurance Act (2003) Classification of Insurance Business: Clearly defines categories of insurance (life, non-life, reinsurance, intermediaries) and restricts the use of terms like “insurance” or “underwriter” to licensed entities. Licensing & Operations: Introduces stricter licensing conditions, specialization requirements, and rules for rejection or cancellation of licenses. It also regulates holding companies and principal officers. Capital Requirements: Establishes new minimum capital adequacy standards to address under-capitalization and ensure financial stability.
Current Status
In force. NIIRA 2025 was enacted and signed into law, establishing the consolidated regulatory framework for Nigeria's insurance sector under the oversight of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
Legal Framework
The Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 is the primary legislation governing the insurance sector. It replaces and consolidates the Insurance Act 2003, the National Insurance Commission Act, and related statutes. It operates alongside the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 (BOFIA), the Investments and Securities Act 2024, and the Consumer Protection Council Act. International standards from the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Insurance Core Principles provide the regulatory benchmark.