The #EndSARS protest across major cities in Nigeria in October 2020 resulted in loss of lives and property. Shops were burgled, properties destroyed, and even the Lagos State Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system suffered losses, with several of its buses were burnt.
Months later, there were news reports of how much businesses had lost due to the burglaries. Then, there was a social media post of a shop owner calling on people to come to her aid in restoring her shop. In my mind, this wouldn’t be the case if she had insurance coverage for her business.
That sowed the seed for the Nigerian Insurance Industry Report in my mind.
Finding partners
Getting the project off the ground meant finding the right partner. I tried getting the national headquarters of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and its Lagos State office, but neither worked out.
Then, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) entered the conversation: I reached out, and after a few meetings, it was a done deal. Long story short, we interviewed some of the businesses in their network that had suffered losses during the protests.
From there, the research entered another phase: interviewing insurance sales agents, both current and former, using insights from the business owners’ responses. This was followed by the insurance companies, which relied on insights gathered in prior surveys.
Basically, each questionnaire was designed based on insights from the one before it.
Analysis and design were ongoing as we also gathered input from fintech players in the insurance space.
Analysis done. Design done, and everything in between. Go-to-market strategy drawn up and started with a pre-release campaign.
Despite working on a handful of industry reports since then, it remains one of my favourite reports because it examined an industry from the perspectives of three stakeholder groups.
Highlights of the project
One of the highlights of the project was securing the foreword from Babatunde Fajemirokun, CEO of AIICO Insurance Plc.
Towards the report’s release, we had printed copies for people who preferred a physical version.
I presented a snippet of the report at the 2023 edition of the Insurance Meet Tech Conference in Lagos.
By 2024, the report was launched, followed by coverage across podcast, TV, and radio, with appearances on Channels TV, Arise TV, Techpoint Africa Podcast, and Plus TV, among others.
You can get the report here.
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