The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has granted Microinsurance licence to Goxi Microinsurance Company. This development has positioned Goxi as a pioneer standalone microinsurer in Nigeria.
Haven being granted State Composite licence, the Microinsurance outfit will only operate in Lagos State.
Being a State Microinsurer, Goxi’s minimum capital base is pegged at N100 million, while the regulator expects the underwriter to operate only in Lagos, with at least three branches or office locations, each in a different Local Government Area of the state.
Warm welcome?
The composite Microinsurance license will allow the firm transact life and general microinsurance business within its domicile State.
A statement from NAICOM signed by its Spokesperson, Salaami Rasaaq, disclosed that this approval is one of several applications received by the commission from individuals and corporate entities requesting approval for registration as Micro Insurance firms.
Stating that Goxi becomes the first full-fledged standalone Micro Insurance operator in Nigeria. The regulatory body noted that this gesture was a result of its drive to ensure insurance market development through enhanced access points for insurance services in the country.
About microinsurance
Microinsurance is the protection of low-income people (those living on between approximately $1 and $4 per day) against specific perils in exchange for regular premium payment proportionate to the likelihood and cost of the risks involved.
One can also interpret it as the insurance that enables low-income earners, mostly in the developing world, to avoid the debt traps that often imperil their livelihoods and even their lives. Microinsurance is insurance that’s aimed at the low-income market and, more specifically, at the working poor.
About NAICOM
The National Insurance Commission was established by the National Insurance Commission Act No 1 of 1997 to ensure the effective administration, supervision and regulation of insurance business in Nigeria as well as regulate transactions between insurers and reinsurers within and outside Nigeria.
