General News
Insurance and Banking in Nigeria: Any Relationship?
Under the financial services sector, banks and insurance companies fall within the same tripod, alongside the capital market. As the Central Bank of Nigeria continues in its reform of the banking sector, the National Insurance Commission {NAICOM} has also not been left behind in the formulation of policies and other regulatory frameworks. However the question agitating the minds of industry watchers is why despite efforts put in place, the insurance industry has not occupied the ideal position in Nigeria. Elsewhere, insurance provides a leadership role to other segments of the financial sector, with many banks being owed by insurance companies. What is the role of insurance in the development of any economy, particularly in Nigeria where insurance seems to be crawling instead of running. While appreciating the professional efforts already in place to change the trend, it is expedient to guide the public on what relationship if any, exists between the banks and insurance. According to Mr. Adeyemo Adejumo, managing director of Continental Reinsurance plc, “traditionally, the financial services sector is commonly classified along the lines of banking and non-banking institutions with insurance taking a pride of place in the latter class.” He explained that “globally, banking and insurance have evolved as playing leading roles in the activities of the financial services industry, stressing that over the years, there have been arguments and counter arguments about the ‘ideal’ relationship that should exist between banking and insurance practices and this has also been recognized by governments around the world.” The Continental Reinsurance boss who delivered a paper on the relationship between banks and insurance at a public forum, said that in the United Kingdom for instance, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was established as the single regulatory body for both the banking and insurance industries, in recognition of the fact that although some differences may exist in their operation, to a great extent there exist some meaningful relationship between them. He said the Financial Services Act of 1999 has far-reaching and major implications towards the movement of globalization in the banking industry. The bill first and foremost, he said, allows mergers between different sections of the industry that were previously not allowed, a situation which allowed insurance companies to merge with banks.
Adejumo explained that in Canada, for instance, the Bank Act and accompanying regulations contain specific rules pertaining to chartered banks and their involvement in the insurance business. The Insurance Business (Bank and Bank Holding Companies) regulations authorize banks to sell certain insurance products closely related to their lending businesses. Banks may also sell other types of insurance through subsidiary companies, subject to certain restrictions. He explained that as a result of the globalization and liberalization of the financial services industry, many financial institutions are participating in the business activities of other financial institutions, banks and insurance companies in particular. “Several European countries have made considerable regulatory changes regarding the banking and insurance sectors. Although regulatory changes vary from country to country, there has been a pan-European trend towards the ‘Universal Bank’ and the limitations of the past no longer exist. Banks are now able to operate across a broader range of activities, including insurance, via legally independent risk carriers. The insurance companies and banks are not competing within just the life insurance industry and banking industry respectively anymore but within the wider financial services marketplace,” he said. The reinsurance expert stressed that in Nigeria, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval-in-principle of the adoption of universal banking, it released Guidelines for the Practice of Universal Banking in Nigeria in December 2000.
According to the guideline banking business in Nigeria was defined as “the business of receiving deposits on current, savings or other accounts, paying or collecting cheques drawn or paid in by customers, provision of finance, consultancy and advisory services relating to corporate and investment matters, making or managing investment on behalf of any person and the provision of insurance marketing services and capital market business or such other services as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria which may, by gazette, designate as banking business.” This implied that banks are free to choose which activity or activities to undertake, whether it is money or capital market activities or insurance marketing services or a combination thereof and are expected to comply with the guidelines specified for such activity or activities.
Consequently he said, a bank will be regulated based on the type of activities it engages in.
This situation led to the issuance of a single uniform license to all conventional banks which are
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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