General News
CognitiveTechnology Reshaping Africa’s Insurance Sector
By Uzo Nwani
Underinsurance remains a feature of many African economies. With the African Development Bank(AfDB) revising its projected GDP growth rate for the continent to 3.7% from 4.2% by 2018, the region’s relatively low uptake of insurance is one key indicator of its underdevelopment. For folks in the technology space, the insurance sector’s micro and macro issues are often opportunities for technology adoption and utilization.
Technology adoption is however not the key challenge confronting Africa’s insurance sector. A more fundamental problem plaguing the growth of Africa’s multi-trillion-dollar insurance industry is the issue of trust.
Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana recently explained at an insurance colloquium that while most insurance companies in Nigeria are anxious to collect premiums, they are reluctant to pay claims. And when they agree to pay, the payment is deliberately delayed. “One account of such delays is when motorists and drivers fight on the roads to determine who would fix their damaged vehicles,” Falana explained.
In a recent interview with the UK’s Financial Times newspaper, Paul Norman of KPMG East Africa opines that without trust, the industry is as good as nonexistent:“There’s a trust deficit gap — people don’t buy insurance because they don’t trust the providers,” he says. “They don’t think the promise [that a claim will be paid] is going to be delivered. Claims are not paid quickly, fairly or correctly. It’s a huge pain point across the continent.”
While the adoption of advanced technologies like big data analytics, cloud and cognitive computing will certainly boost the operational performance and efficiency levels of insurance firms (and businesses generally), insurance industry practitioners and institutions must work harder to fix the sector’s trust issues, working in concert with technology firms who will support their market development plans with appropriate solutions and systems.
APA Insurance, a Kenyan insurer catering to both individuals and corporates, recently turned to IBM to optimize its claims processes. The insurance underwriter can now gain greater visibility into policies, premiums and loss ratios through IBM Analytics Solutions, ultimately improving its product offerings, service delivery and customers experience.
While IBM continues to evaluate APA’s adoption and integration of its business intelligence (BI) solutions, the bigger picture is that there is a pent-up demand for insurers and improved risk management services across sub-Sahara Africa. Technology could help unlock the sector, further contributing to the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently predicted that emerging markets and developing economies will be at the forefront of growth for 2017-18 at more than double the rate of advanced economies.
African insurers will no doubt increasingly use technology to rejig their business models, including as a tool to cope with changes in the markets and changes in regulation. Technology will also eradicate the industry’s traditional boundaries, allowing new entrants to compete with the established behemoths in the industry. And as markets mature, insurance practitioners will also have to come up with strategies to better manage risk and technologically savvy customers. To succeed, insurers will have to work faster, more efficiently and, above all, smarter.
The report of a study by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), “Insurance 2025: Reducing Risk in an Uncertain Future” reveals that two technological trends will have a high impact on the future of business across industries: the rise of cognitive computing, and the increasing potential for decentralization of systems and decision making.
If systems are decentralized, the question will be where the center of control will sit, and how fragmented the networks will be. For example, limitations imposed by privacy concerns, regulation, or liability could hamper the use of devices encourage the device autonomy and the centralization of control.
Cognitive computing refers to next-generation information systems designed to accelerate, enhance and take advantage of human expertise. These systems can learn large amounts of data, reason with purpose, and interact with humans naturally. Their ability to handle unstructured data and range across wide subject domains gives them opportunity to remake business processes. We believe these technologies will have reached maturity by 2025.
An IBM IBVinsurance survey in 2016 found that 79% of insurance company leaders believe technology will have a major impact on their organizations, and 71% said they have begun to use cognitive technologies. When combined with artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive systems can enable insurers to assess the risk of loaning to an individual to a high degree.
We believe that insurance companies should consider these four moves to succeed in the next decade:
1) Increase flexibility: Take out expenses and build in flexibility by moving core systems to a hybrid cloud that are available as-a-service, which enables experimentation and entry into new markets entry at low costs, on secure platforms. As products move to “as-a-service” models, turn legacy systems into components to help sustain cost competitiveness.
2) Develop partner ecosystems: Organizations in the insurance industry will need to collaborate to have the best data about consumers and the risks of loaning money to them. The goal is to cultivate partnerships and membership in ecosystems within the insurance industry. When using “as-a-service” products, an insurance company will need to cooperate with service partners to offer the complete package.
3) Improve predictive capabilities: Insurance companies will need to improve their speed of change by bringing together technology, business capabilities and product investment. They should use analytics, pattern recognition and data to chart progress, as well as understand customer behavior and risk parameters.
4) Embrace innovation: Leading innovators build an organization with a corporate culture and design processes that encourage innovation. Corporate structures can be made more flexible by streamlining internal innovation processes, with centralized funding and investment models.
Embracing innovation will build skill with component technologies of whichever future scenario wins, providing the capabilities necessary to prosper in changing conditions. And building agile development and business service composition skills will keep your organization nimble enough to capitalize on market changes.
As African economies expand and evolve, C-suite executives in Africa’s insurance sector will need to look towards the future, embracing cloud and cognitive systems to maintain their organization’s competitive advantage. By using this holistic approach, they can continue to transform their business even as their industry is restructuring all around them.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has ordered all international airlines flying into Nigeria to enforce the $10,000 currency declaration rule.
The authority said the rule is required for passengers to declare cash or negotiable instruments above the limit, as part of efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering compliance.
According to the NCAA, the directive, referenced as NCAA/CPD/ABV/298, dated 24 April 2025 seeks to address gaps in the enforcement of existing currency declaration obligations for inbound passengers.
This was announced in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his official X account on Tuesday.
“International carriers must take two key actions, which include “Make inflight or pre-landing announcements informing passengers of their legal obligation to declare any currency or Bearer Negotiable Instruments exceeding $10,000 USD or its equivalent upon arrival in Nigeria.
“Distribute currency declaration forms onboard for passengers to complete before landing. The NCAA has received reports indicating that some airlines are yet to comply with this directive”, the statement read.
The NCAA said these requirements are consistent with international best practices and are vital to preventing the illegal movement of large sums of money across borders.
The Authority warned that full cooperation from international airlines is essential, saying, “Please note that the cooperation of all international airlines operating in Nigeria is critical to supporting the country’s efforts to align with global financial standards.”
Accordingly, the authority emphasised that full implementation of this directive, particularly as it concerns inbound passenger declarations, is of utmost importance.
“Compliance will be closely monitored, and non-compliant airlines will face appropriate sanctions,” it added.
The court of appeal in Lagos has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke the certificate of registration of “KPMG Professional Services”.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellant court granted the reliefs sought by KPMG Nigeria against CAC and KPMG Professional Services.
The judgment was read by Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, the judge.
The two other judges are Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and A.M. Talba.
In 2002, KPMG Professional Services was registered as a company with CAC despite the existence of KPMG Nigeria, comprising its audit, tax, and consulting arms.
The KPMG Nigeria has long been registered in Nigeria before 2002.
KPMG Audit was registered in 1969, KPMG Tax Consultants in 1990, and KPMG Consulting in 1969.
Displeased with the registration of KPMG Professional Services, KPMG Nigeria approached the federal high court.
The consulting firm had argued that the name “KPMG Professional Services” was deceptively similar to its long-established identity.
In 2005, the lower court dismissed KPMG Nigeria’s case, citing an alleged merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte as reason the company could no longer assert rights to the name.
The lower upheld the second respondent’s (KPMG Professional Services) counterclaim and ordered that KPMG Nigeria’s name be struck off the CAC register.
The lower court had premised its decision on newspaper articles stating that KPMG Nigeria reportedly merged with Akintola Williams Deloitte.
Delivering the judgment, Bayero ruled that the lower court erred by relying on newspaper articles to ascertain that KPMG Nigeria allegedly merged with another company.
The judge said the documents showing the alleged merger were not presented before the lower court, and the form of the alleged merger could not have been known.
“In any event, the only branch of KPMG, if any, that entered into a merger with Akintola Williams as stated in the newspaper articles 18, is KPMG Audit,” the judge ruled.
“The other spheres were totally unaffected. It would therefore be wrong to state that the merger (which has not been shown to this Court) of KPMG Audit with Akintola Williams means all the other areas of business, including KPMG Consulting and KPMG Tax Consultants, also ceased to exist.
“Even if the Appellants (KPMG Nigeria) had ceased to do business as the Court seemed to have held, the 2nd Respondents (KPMG Professional Services) should not have been carrying on business until the Appellant’s certificate of registration is withdrawn or set aside.
“They cannot use the name until the Appellant’s certification of registration is withdrawn or set aside. They cannot use the name until the name is removed from the 1st Respondent’s (CAC) Register of Names.
“The 1st Respondents can only assign the name to the 2nd Respondents after first taking it away from the Appellants.”
The court ruled that CAC erred by registering KPMG Professional Services despite the existence of a business name, which is already registered.
The judge reversed the earlier ruling of the lower court and reaffirmed the primacy of statutory protection for existing business names under Nigerian corporate law.
Air Peace has announced the launch of direct flights from Abuja to London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with operations scheduled to begin on October 26, 2025.
The airline said in a statement on Sunday that round-trip fares for the Abuja–London service will start from N1m, making it the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct connections from the capital to both of London’s major international airports. This was contained in a press release issued on Sunday by the airline’s spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey.
“Direct international flight services from Abuja to both London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airports, effective October 26, 2025.
“Air Peace becomes the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct services from Abuja to both of London’s major international airports, further solidifying its role as a leader in regional and intercontinental aviation.
“Travellers originating from any of Air Peace’s domestic destinations across Nigeria can now book through fares via Abuja to either Heathrow or Gatwick using a single ticket, eliminating the need for multiple bookings or baggage re-checks,” the statement read.
Similarly, the new route opens convenient access for inbound passengers from the UK to cities across Nigeria.
“Travellers from London can access multiple destinations across Nigeria using a single Air Peace ticket through Abuja every morning. These destinations are Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Warri, Owerri, Kano, Yola, Gombe and Asaba, for now. Other destinations will be added later,” Osifo-Whiskey stated.
Air Peace is also offering what it describes as unprecedented value in pricing and service.
Osifo-Whiskey said, “It provides a distinct competitive advantage, enabling passengers to travel between Nigeria and the United Kingdom with greater ease, efficiency, and value, due to the possibility of choosing multiple cities entry and exit points.
“Has the cheapest fares ever, starting from only 1 Million Naira round trip. Huge baggage allowance.”
The Abuja–London launch comes months after the airline began Lagos–London Heathrow flights, which started earlier in 2024.
Kuda Unveils New Wallet for Multiple Currencies
Telcos Resume SIM Card Sales after 2-Week Halt
NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content
NCAA Orders Airlines to Enforce $10,000 Currency Declaration Rule
NIA Questions Legality of Reps’ Financial Probe
E-Financial3 days agoUBA’s LEO Becomes Africa’s First Chatbot to Enable Cross-Border Payments
News3 days agoUN Appoints Sa’id, Nigerian to Nuclear Panel
E-Business3 days agoNIMC Enrolls 122m for NIN, Cuts Extortion by 40 Percent
Telecom2 days agoMTN Nigeria Rewards 1,500+ Winners with ₦290m in Mega Billion Promo
Telecom3 days agoMTN Urges Nigerian to Regards Telecom Infrastructure as National Assets
General News3 days agoAppeal Court Nullifies Registration of ‘KPMG Professional Services’
E-Financial2 days agoNaira Slides Again, Hits ₦1,532.34/$ Despite CBN’s Dollar Push
Telecom3 days agoBitget Launches $6M Global Crypto Trading Contest with New Competitive Segments