By David Akinmola
Efforts to actualise the Federal Government’s $1 trillion economy ambition will require a deliberate alignment of Nigeria’s insurance architecture with its broader financial infrastructure, according to former AXA Mansard executive director, Rashidat Adebisi.
Speaking at the official launch of her initiative, The Re-Architecture Project, in Ikeja, Lagos, at the weekend, Adebisi said achieving a trillion-dollar economy goes beyond capital mobilisation and demands a structural redesign of how financial systems engage the real economy — particularly the informal sector, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of employment across Africa.
“The path to a trillion-dollar GDP is not built on capital alone,” she said. “It requires a total re-architecture of how our financial systems interact with the informal economy — the true engine of productivity.”
Adebisi, who spent 21 years in institutional finance and held key leadership roles at AXA Mansard, described the ongoing reforms under the Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA 2025) as a watershed moment for the sector.
Rather than viewing the legislation as regulatory friction, she characterised NIIRA 2025 as a critical structural reinforcement focused on capital recalibration, stronger governance and enhanced consumer protection pillars she said are essential to building the institutional rigour required to support a $1 trillion economy.
According to her, insurance must be repositioned from a transactional product to what she termed the “secret sauce” of economic resilience.
She noted that insurance penetration remains below three per cent across many African markets, leaving a significant protection gap that constrains growth.
“Insurance is the net that allows a nation to jump higher,” Adebisi stated, adding that every decimal point in a financial model represents a stabilised business and a secured future the foundation for sustainable macroeconomic expansion.
Her Re-Architecture Project argues that Nigeria’s primary deficit is not capital, but “invisible infrastructure”
trust, access and regulatory clarity. She maintained that industry reform represents a necessary recalibration of foundational systems while accelerating digital transformation.
“Those who view compliance as a burden will struggle; those who see it as a competitive advantage will thrive,” she said.
A central plank of her initiative is the integration of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and informal entrepreneurs into formal financial systems through digital tax compliance, insurance inclusion and access to structured credit ecosystems.
By reimagining tax compliance as a digital utility rather than an administrative hurdle, she said, millions of businesses can transition from economic invisibility into formal financial rails.
As a financial systems strategist, Adebisi outlined a decade-long blueprint anchored on three principles: data-aware, policy-conscious and Africa-focused. She called on policymakers and industry leaders to move beyond incremental reforms toward designing interoperable financial ecosystems capable of sustaining long-term growth.
“The future of finance in Africa will not be inherited. It will be architected. It is our turn to build,” she concluded.
A Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and an alumna of the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Adebisi served as Chief Finance Officer, Chief Distribution Officer and Chief Client Officer at AXA Mansard before resigning from the board effective December 31, 2025.
Her latest intervention positions insurance not as a peripheral financial service, but as a strategic instrument for macroeconomic stability and national transformation.
