According to Ken Aghoghovbia, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Africa Re, agricultural insurance [4] in Nigeria has the potential to generate annual premiums worth 600 million USD for the local market, given the country's 70 million hectares of arable land. However, these figures do not reflect the reality on the ground. In 2021, the agricultural activity's revenues did not exceed 15 million USD, or 1% of the market's total premiums. In fact, both the 2021 and 2022 turnovers have declined significantly.
This weak performance is due to a number of factors, including the non-renewal of the government-supported borrower program, diverging business objectives among the various players, and a lack of investment.
These comments were made at Africa Re's 3rd Agriculture Insurance Workshop.
As a reminder, an inclusive insurance program was launched in 2022 to help strengthen the resilience of 300 000 small farmers.