Noor Takaful Insurance Shares N1bn Surplus to Customers

Ebere Nwoji

The Chairman, Noor Takaful Insurance Limited, Ambassador Shuaibu Ahmed, has said that the pioneer composite Takaful Insurance firm has since inception distributed a total of ₦1 billion in surplus to its customers .
This includes ₦400 million surplus the firm distributed to its customers last week for 2023 business year alone.
The surplus distribution is a kind of cash back the firm shares to its customers who have been paying premium for insurance contracts they purchased from the firm but has not had any risk that makes them to make claims from the company.
This is what the insuring public has been desiring from conventional insurance firms but is far from being realised.
But by its nature of business Noor Takaful Insurance which started business in Nigeria in 2017 has since inception been paying surplus to such customers.
Takaful sometimes translated as solidarity or mutual guarantee is a co-operative system of reimbursement or repayment in case of loss, organised as an Islamic or sharia-compliant alternative to conventional insurance which contains riba(usury)and gharar( e cessjve uncertainty).
At the 2023 surplus distribution by Noor Takaful, total of 15 participants, including individuals, financial institutions, and private and public organisations, received surplus payments.
These include Lotus Bank, ARM Group, Trustlub Resources Limited, and MG Vowgas Ltd.
Among the surplus receipts, Alternative Bank received the lion’s share of the payment, cashing back N19.018 million . Other companies or individuals who also received part of the 2023 surplus distribution include Automarket Nigeria Limited, Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Limited, Vanguard Pharmacy, Cardinal Stone, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Globus Bank, Wema Bank/Mezovest Limited, Halden Nigeria Limited & ICA Logistics Ltd, Kaka Ajibola Oladele and i-SOW Investment Limited.
The Noor Takaful Insurance Chairman Shuaib speaking on the surplus distribution said it was not just a milestone but powerful proof that the Takaful system works for everyone. “We are not just celebrating numbers on a balance sheet; we are celebrating trust, partnership, and the very essence of the Takaful model which is mutual cooperation and shared prosperity”, he stated.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer, National Insurance Commission ( NAICOM),Mr Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, who was represented by the Deputy Director, NAICOM, Dr Julius Odidi, described the surplus distribution event as a statement of the resilience, inclusivity and ethical foundations upon which Nigeria’s takaful industry was being built.
Odidi stated that celebrating distribution and the fulfilment of claims was a stark reminder of the true meaning of takaful, which entailed the principles of trust, fairness, and shared prosperity.According to him, these principles are at the heart of takaful and remain central to the progress of Nigeria’s broader insurance sector. He explained further that Takaful offered financial protection, dignity, fairness and confidence in the future.
In her keynote address, foremost female entrepreneur and former first Chairperson First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Ibukun Awosika, explained that driving the Takaful insurance model in a country like Nigeria required the effort of the institution involved, particularly at a time when conventional insurance has failed to deliver on expectations.Awosika described the Takaful model as an equitable business model that rewards each party for its contribution.She stressed that the company must intensify its efforts to deepen awareness about the takaful model in a way that would attract interest from Nigerians regardless of their faith.“Non-conventional insurance is a sector that needs to grow exponentially because of the market space there, and this model will encourage more people to get into insurance. I was asking how many people you have signed up with right now, and I was told that the number is about 20,000. So, we’re really at the early stage. And what I would challenge the company to do is to invest time in educating the public. As a company, you need to share the model of what you do. You don’t want to be just another insurance company, and you don’t want the door to be shut on it just being called a religious insurance company,” she said.
While congratulating the beneficiaries of the surplus distribution, she expressed optimism that the model would help re-engineer the value system with which corporations and society operate.