Nigeria’s insurance industry, despite historically low penetration compared with banking and fintech, has continued to expand in recent years.
According to Nairametrics, Nigeria’s insurance companies held total assets of about N4.6 trillion by mid-2025, a sign of rising investments and stronger balance sheets across the industry.
At the same time, gross premium generation has continued to climb, with insurers recording N769.2 billion in premiums in the first quarter of 2025 alone, one of the strongest quarterly performances on record.
This shows that while insurance still lags behind other financial sectors in scale, its growth trajectory is steadily improving.
Within this evolving landscape, some women are increasingly shaping the direction of the industry.
From executive leadership, underwriting and actuarial services to risk management, female professionals are gaining influence in a sector.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, here are the influential female C-suite executives in Nigeria’s insurance industry.
Here are the women leading the Nigerian insurance sector
Ngozi Temitope Ola‑Israel leads the finance strategy of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest insurance providers.
She was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2017 after serving as Group Head of Financial Control, becoming one of the key executives responsible for steering the company’s financial management during a period of transformation in Nigeria’s insurance sector.
In addition to her finance leadership role, she also served as Chief Data Officer between 2019 and 2024, overseeing enterprise-wide data strategy and digital transformation initiatives across the organisation.
Ola-Israel began her professional career at PwC, where she spent over six years working on financial statement audits for financial services institutions, including banks, insurance firms, pension administrators, and asset managers.
She also serves as a Non-Executive Director at AXA Mansard Investments and APD, contributing to board-level oversight and corporate governance across the group.
