E-Financial
NAICOM Tasks Insurers, Banks to Explore Opportunities Outside Traditional Channels

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has counselled practitioners in the banking and insurance sectors on the need to explore other paths to wealth creation than sticking to traditional distribution channels.
Mr Sunday Thomas, Commissioner for Insurance, while speaking at a virtual forum on the topic: “Bancassurance in Nigeria – unlocking growth for Banks and Insurers”, organised by Ernst and Young Nigeria (EY) in Lagos, said such alternatives would support them to deepen penetration.
Bancassurance is a relationship between a bank and an insurance company that is aimed at offering insurance products or benefits to the bank’s customers.
In such partnership, all the bank’s sales channels become a point of sale and contact for the customer.
According to Thomas, insurance penetration in Nigeria currently stands at .5 per cent.
“We believe that we should begin to look beyond the traditional distribution channels for the purpose of reaching out to the unreached, insurance wise.
“Not just people in the sense of national population, but an organised set of people who have the capability of meeting the requirements for insurance purposes.
“As at December 2020, about 111.5 million active bank accounts exist in Nigeria; when you look at these numbers, compare to the number of people that have one form of insurance or the other.
“By my record, it is less than 10 million; it’s a far cry! It portends a great opportunity for the insurance sector to be able to reach out to deliver insurance benefits to the people,” he said.
The insurance commissioner said that with Bancassurance, he believed that working together with the banking sector, stakeholders could reach out to more people.
He also advised operators to adopt the referral models of Bancassurance for the purpose of distribution, saying that other models would require issuance of special licenses and certificates.
Thomas said it would allow them make contact and leverage the data base of the banking sector for the purpose of distribution.
He said that it was a model which the present structure and relationship within the financial services sector and principally between NAICOM and the Central Bank of Nigeria allowed.
The insurance commissioner supported deepened retail market, noting that it was the future of insurance sector.
He said that the corporate account was good to build portfolio, but in terms of sustainability, operators needed retail business.
Mr Rotimi Okpaise, Partner and Insurance Sector Leader, EY West Africa, mentioned three success factors that would transform the industry.
“Moving from a low level of penetration now to where we want will require a transformative spirit of mindset.
“First is having an active client centricity, where people actually understand what insurance is and what the benefits are.
“The second and third are having both plans toward distribution channels and retaining and attracting talents with regards to clients centricity,” Okpaise said.
Dr Tosin Oshinubi, Director, Business Consulting, EY West Africa, urged Nigeria to join countries using Bancassurance to scale and do well, particularly in retail expansion, as benefits were immense.
“To the insurer, you have access to active market; an insurance company is able to quickly scale and spread their tentacles to areas where they do not have strong geographical presence leveraging the distribution channels of the banks among others.
“To the banks, while the benefits of the commission may not be juicy as they want it, it is still a way to diversify their revenue base because they already have the channels and the customers.
“So, this is just like an added income on what they currently have today, and so on.
“To the economy at large, the benefit is that it helps to improve insurance penetration and then more lives and goods are covered,” Oshinubi said
E-Financial
World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
E-Financial
Ecobank Taps Google Cloud to Deepen Financial Inclusion

Ecobank, a pan-African financial services group, has partnered with Google Cloud in a deal to improve financial services with advanced analytics, AI and driving digital empowerment across Africa.
This collaboration will focus on leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced technologies and AI to enhance Ecobank’s digital offerings to accelerate the digital transformation of the Bank.
The partnership agreement is designed to empower individuals, support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, and contribute to the overall economic development of Africa.
“Our collaboration with Google Cloud is a leap forward in Ecobank’s digital transformation journey. We look forward to leveraging Google Cloud’s world-class technology to unlock new possibilities for individuals and businesses to grow and scale across Africa,” said Jeremy Awori, group chief executive officer of Ecobank.
“This collaboration signifies our shared intent to explore building a more connected and financially inclusive future for the continent.”
Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Ecobank have a shared vision for using technology to help deliver financial empowerment to more people and businesses in Africa.
“We look forward to exploring the ways our cutting-edge AI, powerful data analytics, and scalable infrastructure can support Ecobank’s efforts to fuel the continent’s economic development and digital future.”
The collaboration aims to simplify and streamline money transfers, both domestically and across borders. By leveraging Google Cloud’s capabilities, including its powerful data analytics platform, BigQuery, for AI-driven insights, Ecobank will aim to develop solutions that improve access to finance for SMEs, simplify payment acceptance, and provide valuable data-driven insights to help businesses scale across more than 33 countries in Africa.
E-Financial
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Rights Issue Oversubscribed by 21.9%

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced the successful close of the N148.7 billion Rights Issue subscription exercise following the completion of the verification exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and final clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Stanbic IBTC Holdings said the Rights Issue was oversubscribed by 21.9 percent, adding that the holding company has injected N140 billion into Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Kunle Adedeji, acting Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc while commenting on the just concluded rights issue programme said that “The turnout and participation of existing shareholders taking up their rights was impressive such that the rights issue was oversubscribed by 21.9percent to the tune of N181.4 billion. Our shareholders’ interest shows the confidence they continue to have in the brand,” he said.
“We appreciate the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lead Issuing house, Joint Issuing houses and other stakeholders in the successful completion of the recapitalisation exercise.
“We are optimistic about future opportunities, as the injection of new capital will position us to take advantage of them to enable us to deliver to our shareholders. To all shareholders, we are grateful for your unwavering belief and support for the Stanbic IBTC Brand and your willingness to continue this journey with us,” Adedeji said.
Having received an injection of N140 billion from the parent company, the Chief Executive of the Banking subsidiary, Wole Adeniyi, remarked that “the injection of the new capital into the banking subsidiary is a positive development. This will enable the Bank to seize additional opportunities within the industry and enhance our Single Obligor Limit (SOL).
“We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of our regulators, issuing houses, and all other stakeholders. We extend our sincere gratitude for your continued support.”
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