Nigeria’s drive to close its housing deficit and unlock investments in the real estate sector will remain exposed to recurring losses unless insurance becomes a central pillar of housing policy, insurance experts have warned.

In a paper delivered at the 20th Africa International Housing Show (AIHS) 2026, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Heirs General Insurance, Wole Fayemi, said the country’s housing strategy must evolve beyond increasing the supply of homes to protecting lives, investments and communities those assets represent, as repeated building collapses. Other disasters have exposed significant gaps in Nigeria’s housing development framework.

His intervention comes as governments, at all levels, intensify efforts to bridge Nigeria’s estimated housing deficit, while the insurance industry seeks to leverage the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 to deepen compulsory insurance compliance and improve risk management in the built environment.

According to Fayemi, a housing policy driven solely by construction targets is inadequate if completed buildings remain vulnerable to avoidable risks that can erode years of investment.

Fayemi noted that recurring building collapses have resulted in avoidable death, destruction of property worth billions of naira and declining public confidence in the built environment.

Referring to the provisions of the NIIRA 2025, he said developers and occupiers have a responsibility to insure buildings, stressing that compliance would safeguard investments, reduce systemic risks and protect families and businesses from catastrophic losses.

Insurance professionals who spoke with The Guardian at the weekend said Fayemi’s position reflects the industry’s long-standing campaign for stronger enforcement of compulsory insurance laws, particularly those relating to buildings.

The former Managing Director of FSL Insurance Broker Limited, Alfred Daudu, said Nigeria already has adequate legal provisions on compulsory building insurance, but that enforcement has remained weak, leaving property owners and investors exposed to avoidable losses.

According to him, every building under construction above two floors and every public building is expected to be insured under existing laws, yet compliance remains significantly low.

Also speaking on the Development Insurance Week, former President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Yetunde Ilori, described insurance as an indispensable component of sustainable housing development, arguing that mortgage lenders, developers and homebuyers stand to benefit when projects are adequately protected.