By Onu Okorie

The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM has appointed global professional services firm Ernst & Young EY as Consulting Actuary for the finalisation and implementation of Nigeria’s Risk-Based Capital RBC framework, marking a significant step in the country’s push to modernise insurance sector regulation.

The appointment was formalised at a working meeting between NAICOM and EY in Abuja on Wednesday, under the Commission’s ongoing Risk-Based Capital Implementation project.

Addressing the meeting, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, said the Commission had been progressively steering the Nigerian insurance sector toward a risk-based supervisory regime and capital structure, describing the shift as a deliberate strategy to fortify the industry’s financial foundations.

“This strategic shift is aimed at strengthening financial stability and enhancing policyholder protection across the industry,” Omosehin stated.

The Commissioner noted that following the recent enactment of enabling legislation and the ongoing Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) recapitalisation exercise, NAICOM had accelerated efforts to develop an RBC framework specifically calibrated to the Nigerian insurance market. He added that full deployment of the framework would be timed to coincide with the conclusion of the current MCR exercise.

In the near term, NAICOM outlined a series of critical preparatory steps, including Quantitative Impact Studies (QIS) and industry-wide data collection exercises expected to commence in the coming weeks. These initiatives will support the recalibration of key parameters, deepen engagement with industry stakeholders, and inform the issuance of a final framework alongside comprehensive regulatory guidelines.

Under the terms of the engagement, EY will work to accelerate implementation, strengthen NAICOM’s internal technical capacity, and ensure the resulting regulatory framework is robust, transparent, and suited to conditions in the Nigerian market.

For its part, EY reaffirmed its commitment to treating the assignment as a priority engagement, pledging to work closely with NAICOM and relevant stakeholders to deliver a practical, implementable RBC framework and the supporting tools required for effective execution.

The development signals NAICOM’s broader ambition to align Nigeria’s insurance regulatory architecture with global best practices, bolstering investor confidence and long-term sectoral resilience.