This formed the crux of the remarks by the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas (pictured), at the launch of Risk, Resilience, and Regulatory Lab (R3LAB) at Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria island, Lagos.

The event, which Thomas said was conceived by its development partners, Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) funded by UK Aid, focused on the setting up of the R3Lab. He said “R3Lab was given impetus by mutual interest in maximizing the untapped potential of the African insurance industry and exploring ways in which collaboration, technology and insurance supervisory capacity building is capable of not only mitigating the impact of specific challenges experienced in the regulatory environment but also improve the regulatory effectiveness of African insurance supervisory authorities.”

Noting the challenges African insurance space face, Thomas these have strengthened the need for new strategies to enhance the capabilities of African insurance supervisory authorities to effectively regulate and protect insurance policyholders.

“The R3Lab offers a three-tiered approach towards creating an enabling environment and equipping the regulator with sound, proportionate and fit-for-purpose practices,” he noted.

He explains further, “Risk, resilience, and regulation are the key entry points for the R3Lab to build the technical capacity and skills of the regulator on innovation and sustainable insurance. The R3Lab will facilitate the design of customised capacity-building programs and set up peer to peer exchange platforms, comprehensive learning toolkits, a resource centre for data collection and reporting and topical taskforces and forums for insurance supervisors in Africa.”

Content NAICOM boss disclosed that this was the third joint-initiative that has been birthed through FSD Africa’s partnership with NAICOM. “The first was FSD Africa’s ongoing support in the review of existing regulations including identifying and articulating the key steps, framework(s), and tools required by NAICOM for risk-based capital (RBC).”

Thomas reiterated that FSD Africa support “will enable NAICOM fully implement a scalable RBC framework in Nigeria as well as to help it develop an innovation framework for NAICOM to fulfil its dual objectives of market development and policyholders’ protection.