The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and South Africa’s Rand Mutual are exploring a partnership on claims reform, rehabilitation and workplace safety in a push to strengthen social protection systems across Africa.

The NSITF said discussions with Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) could lead to a formal agreement on workplace injury compensation, occupational safety, rehabilitation and digital reform, as both sides seek to modernise social protection systems under pressure from changing labour conditions and emerging workplace risks.

The talks began in Abuja during a visit by an RMA delegation led by its Group Chief Executive, Bilal Adam, to the NSITF headquarters, where officials from both organisations outlined plans for technical cooperation and knowledge-sharing.

At the heart of the discussions is the future of workers’ compensation in two of Africa’s largest economies, and whether closer institutional ties can help address longstanding weaknesses in claims processing, rehabilitation support and the administration of social insurance schemes.

The NSITF Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, said the proposed partnership would focus on areas including digital transformation, occupational health and safety, return-to-work programmes, policy development and capacity building.

He added that collaboration could help strengthen Nigeria’s Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS), the statutory framework that provides compensation, medical treatment and rehabilitation for workers who suffer injury, disability, occupational disease or death in the course of their employment.

The scheme, one of Nigeria’s central social protection mechanisms for workers, also supports dependents and provides employers with a structured framework for managing workplace liabilities. But like many social insurance systems across the continent, it faces growing pressure to become more efficient, more responsive and better equipped to deal with new forms of work and risk.

Faleye said the changing nature of employment and occupational hazards required compensation institutions to modernise their systems and improve service delivery, adding that collaboration between African social insurers would be increasingly important if those reforms were to take hold.

He added: “The future of social protection lies in collaboration, innovation and the exchange of experiences.”

Founded in 1894, Rand Mutual Assurance is one of South Africa’s oldest workers’ compensation institutions.

It was originally established to serve the mining industry, but has since evolved into a broader social insurer with a focus on compensation, prevention, care and rehabilitation.

For the NSITF, the attraction of the partnership lies partly in that institutional experience.

The NSITF is seeking ways to improve claims administration, strengthen rehabilitation and return-to-work systems, and expand the use of digital tools in compensation management at a time when public institutions face mounting scrutiny over service delivery and accountability.

Faleye said Nigeria and South Africa, as two of the continent’s largest economies, had a responsibility to help drive best practice in social protection and workers’ welfare.

Both organisations are expected to hold technical sessions soon to compare systems and identify areas for cooperation.

Faleye said he expected those discussions to lead to the drafting of a memorandum of understanding for ratification by the NSITF management board.

If formalised, the agreement would mark a significant step in efforts to build cross-border cooperation on workers’ compensation and occupational injury insurance in Africa, where many countries are under pressure to improve labour protections while adapting social protection systems to economic volatility, informality and changing patterns of work.