The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, has issued a resounding call to insurers handling aviation risks in Nigeria, urging them to adopt “compliance, resilience, and global best practices” to safeguard the nation’s aviation ecosystem.
Speaking at the Civil Aviation Insurance Compliance and Financing Summit held recently in Lagos, Najomo explained that the meeting titled “Securing the Skies: Navigating Aviation Insurance and Aircraft Finance Safeguards”was convened to untangle long-standing complexities in aviation insurance and aircraft financing.
He highlighted key challenges, including the need to “define practical modalities for retaining essential components of existing insurance contracts while transitioning to new frameworks”. He added that stakeholders must also clarify global expectations, align with international best practices, and “outline technical requirements for compliance without breaching lease or loan covenants”.
Other issues identified include merging aviation safety oversight with financial indemnity obligations, and developing guidelines for implementing reinsurance arrangements that involve foreign insurers under the new regulatory addendum.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, emphasised the shared responsibility of all aviation stakeholders. According to him, “airlines must ensure full compliance and transparency in their insurance programmes; insurers must provide capacity, competitive products, and global-standard risk management; and lessors and financiers must remain confident that Nigeria provides a stable investment environment”.
He added that regulators must maintain “alignment, operational coordination, and proactive communication” to support a safer and more financially resilient industry.
A major point of debate at the summit centered on the dilemma airlines face in trying to satisfy both Nigeria’s local content policy, which mandates the use of local insurers, and the demands of foreign aircraft lessors who require coverage through global insurers such as Lloyd’s of London.
Delivering a presentation on the Addendum to Prudential Guidelines for Insurers and Reinsurers, Director of Inspectorate at the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Bankole Ajibola
outlined several key regulatory expectations.
These include: a 5% cap on maximum retention per aviation risk
Senior-level authorisation for all aviation placements
Strict adherence to international financial-strength ratings
Mandatory local content compliance, and
A 72-hour occurrence-based reporting rule for all aviation incidents.
On the operators’ side, the Chief Operating Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Mazi Osita Okonkwo, lamented the limited capacity of the Nigerian insurance market. “There is simply no capacity in the Nigerian insurance industry to structure, arrange, place, and underwrite high-level risks for operators, especially for large-body aircraft”,
he said, warning that the gap continues to stunt the sector’s development.
Wrapping up the summit, participants collectively emphasised that aircraft age is less critical than proper maintenance. They called on both the NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation to review the current 22-yeavr age limit for aircraft operating in Nigeria, describing it as a regulation that may require modernisation to reflect international realities.