CAN INSURANCE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT?

The document analyzes insurance penetration and market performance in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda, highlighting a significant risk-protection gap. In Nigeria, only 8% of 138 million adults with bank accounts and mobile phones are covered by insurance. Across the four countries, the combined insurance asset base exceeded USD 10 billion in 2016, yet investments remain predominantly short-term, and a large portion of non-life risk is transferred offshore, particularly in Nigeria (81%) and Ghana (65%).

• There is a substantial gap in insurance coverage among the adult population in Nigeria; while 51% of adults reported facing at least one insurable risk in the last year, only 4.1 million people are covered by insurance other than government health insurance.
• A target group of 138 million adults in the region who possess bank accounts, mobile phones, are formally employed, and earn USD $5 or more per day are largely underserved, with less than 40% of this group having insurance coverage.
• The insurance markets in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda are characterized by high expense ratios and a preference for short-term investments, with 75% of insurer investments in Ghana and 54.7% in Nigeria being short-term.
• Local capacity to manage large risks is limited, leading to high rates of offshore risk transfer for non-life insurance, most notably in Nigeria at 81% and Ghana at 65%.
• The combined insurance assets across the four analyzed countries exceeded USD 10 billion in 2016, which the document notes is smaller than the total assets of the South African insurance sector.

APA

FSD Africa (n.d.). CAN INSURANCE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT? https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Insurance-infographics-new-29.09.19.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. CAN INSURANCE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT? n.d. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Insurance-infographics-new-29.09.19.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=CAN INSURANCE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT? |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Insurance-infographics-new-29.09.19.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafricandcan, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{CAN INSURANCE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT?}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Insurance-infographics-new-29.09.19.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }