Africa
INSURANCE Meets Tech (IMT), a platform promoting collaboration between Nigeria’s insurance and technology sectors, has unveiled its inaugural “10 To Watch” ranking, naming Heirs Insurance Group as the country’s leading insurance company in digital transformation.
The ranking was announced ahead of the fifth edition of the Insurance Meets Tech Conference.
Convener of IMT, Mr Odion Aleobua, said in a statement on Thursday that the ranking assessed insurance companies based on the depth of their digital transformation and the market impact of their technology-driven initiatives.
Aleobua said the assessment framework, developed by Creato Urban, a public relations and marketing communications agency, evaluated participating companies across two dimensions using a 100-point scale, with the final ranking based on the average of both scores.
“Heirs Insurance Group topped the list with a combined score of 89 points, followed by Leadway Assurance with 85 points and SanlamAllianz Nigeria with 84 points.
“Cornerstone Insurance Plc ranked fourth with 81 points, while CubeCover placed fifth with 80 points.
“Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc came sixth with 76 points, followed by Rex Insurance Ltd. with 74 points and Enterprise Life Assurance Nigeria with 73 points.
“Noor Takaful ranked ninth with 71 points, while Zenith General Insurance Company Ltd. completed the top 10 with 65 points,” he said.
Aleobua said Heirs Insurance secured the top position for its digital insurance experience centre, AI-powered multilingual assistant, automated claims processing, USSD services and digital onboarding, which had expanded insurance accessibility since 2021.
He said Leadway Assurance was recognised for its enterprise-wide digital transformation programme, including its LeadwayONE technology architecture, AI-powered claims verification and behavioural analytics for personalised pricing.
According to him, SanlamAllianz Nigeria was recognised for its digital distribution platform serving about 5,000 agents nationwide and its USSD claims service with same-day payout capability.
Aleobua added that IMT also conferred its inaugural “Most Promising Innovation Yet” award on emPLE for its data lake infrastructure project designed to unify insurance customer data and support AI-powered underwriting, fraud detection and embedded insurance services.
He said the ranking reflected the Nigerian insurance industry’s gradual alignment with increasing demand for digitalisation, in line with the vision of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
“This list indicates that the transformation of the Nigerian insurance industry is incrementally aligning with the growing demand for complete digitalisation of insurance services as required by NAICOM.
“The companies featured in this inaugural ’10 To Watch’ ranking are taking the initiative rather than waiting for the industry to evolve.
“At IMT, our mandate has always been to create a platform where that ambition is named, measured and celebrated.
“With this framework, we are doing exactly that, and we are putting the rest of the market on notice that in the years ahead, the distance between leaders and laggards will only widen. The time is now to innovate,” he said.
He said the methodology was designed to reward operational excellence and inclusive growth by recognising insurers deploying technology to improve efficiency, accessibility and customer experience.
Insurance Meets Tech is an annual platform convened by Creato Urban to promote collaboration among regulators, insurers, technology firms, investors and other stakeholders on digital transformation and innovation in Africa’s insurance industry.
The fifth edition of the conference is scheduled to hold on Sept. 18 in Lagos. (NAN)
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Tags: Digital Innovator Heirs Insurance Nigeria IMT