Nigeria wants to emulate Australia in a move to improve regulation of its insurance industry.

Speaking at a recent African Insurance Organisation conference in Zimbabwe, Nigeria’s Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel said he wants his country to have one of the top five regulators in the world.

The National Insurance Commission (of Nigeria) wants to use Australia, Canada, India and South Africa as guides to regulate their insurance industry.

He says the commission is looking at using the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the (Canadian) Office of the Superintendent for Insurance as models to create Nigeria’s own regulatory regime.

Mr Daniel has already improved supervision of the industry with better training for staff, and the laws covering insurance have been revised. These are now with the Nigerian Parliament awaiting approval.