The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Chris Najomo, has urged insurers covering aviation risks to improve compliance, resilience, and alignment with global best practices.
He made the call at the Civil Aviation Insurance Compliance and Financing Summit held recently in Lagos.
Najomo said the summit — themed “Securing the Skies: Navigating Aviation Insurance and Aircraft Finance Safeguards” — was convened to address persistent gaps in Nigeria’s aviation insurance framework.
He listed key challenges including defining workable transition procedures for existing insurance contracts, clarifying global expectations in policy adoption, and harmonising aviation safety oversight with financial indemnity requirements.
He added that regulators must provide clear guidance for reinsurance arrangements, especially in cases where foreign insurers are involved under the new addendum.
In his keynote address, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said stakeholders must play their parts to ensure stability in the sector.
According to him, airlines must maintain transparency in their insurance programmes, insurers must provide globally competitive products, and aircraft lessors must feel confident in Nigeria’s investment climate.
A longstanding issue also resurfaced at the summit: the clash between Nigeria’s local content policy, which mandates airlines to insure with Nigerian underwriters, and the insistence of foreign aircraft lessors on coverage from major international insurers such as Lloyd’s of London.
Speaking on the new Addendum to Prudential Guidelines for insurers and reinsurers, the Director of Inspectorate at NAICOM, Bankole Ajibola, highlighted several requirements.
These include a maximum retention of five percent of shareholders’ funds per aviation risk, senior management approval for all aviation placements, compliance with global financial strength benchmarks, and a strict 72-hour occurrence reporting rule.
United Nigeria Airlines’ Chief Operating Officer, Osita Okonkwo, expressed concern about limited underwriting capacity in the local insurance market, especially for large aircraft. He argued that the gap is restricting industry growth and called for market liberalisation similar to reforms seen in the banking sector.
Participants also urged regulators to review the 22-year age limit placed on commercial aircraft operating in Nigeria, noting that safety depends on maintenance rather than age.
They further recommended that the NCAA create a prequalification list of insurers with sufficient capacity to serve the aviation industry.
, Chris Najomo, has urged insurers covering aviation risks to improve compliance, resilience, and alignment with global best practices.){kind=link}