Heirs Insurance Group is using multilingual artificial intelligence and digital distribution channels to extend insurance coverage to more than three million people, as technology offers a route to overcoming longstanding barriers to insurance penetration in Nigeria.
At the centre of Heirs Insurance Group’s strategy is Prince AI, described by the company as Nigeria’s first multilingual generative artificial intelligence insurance assistant.
The platform uses artificial intelligence and local-language capabilities to make insurance information easier to understand, helping address the communication and awareness barriers that have historically limited adoption, particularly among people outside the formal financial system.
The Group’s investment in digital innovation recently earned it the Africa Sustainable Futures Award, organised by the Financial Times in partnership with the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), in the Critical Infrastructure (Non-Energy) category.
Presented at the recently concluded 2026 Africa Summit in London, the award recognises the Group’s use of digital technology to expand access to insurance and promote financial inclusion among underserved communities in Nigeria. It also highlights the potential of technology-enabled financial services to strengthen economic resilience by making protection more accessible to individuals, households and businesses.
The innovation is significant in a market where low insurance awareness, affordability concerns, limited distribution and distrust of insurers have constrained penetration. For many Nigerians, insurance remains an unfamiliar financial product, with complex policy terms and claims procedures creating additional obstacles to adoption.
By allowing customers to engage with insurance information through multilingual AI, Heirs is seeking to reduce these barriers and bring insurance closer to communities that conventional distribution models have struggled to reach.
The company complements Prince AI with a USSD platform, mobile application, digital channels and bancassurance partnerships, providing multiple access points for customers with different levels of digital connectivity and financial literacy.
This combination of channels is central to the Group’s expansion strategy. While mobile applications can serve customers with smartphones and reliable internet access, USSD offers an alternative for people using basic mobile phones. Bancassurance and other distribution partnerships provide additional routes through which insurance products can reach customers beyond traditional physical outlets.
Together, the channels allow the insurer to expand its potential customer base without relying exclusively on conventional face-to-face distribution. They also create opportunities to make insurance more accessible to individuals and small businesses whose exposure to financial shocks can threaten household incomes, business continuity and accumulated assets.
The Group said its digital initiatives have extended insurance access to more than three million people. Although the figure demonstrates the scale of its reach, the broader test for the business and the industry will be how effectively this access translates into sustained policy ownership, repeat purchases and timely claims payments.
For Nigeria’s insurance market, where a large proportion of households and businesses remain without adequate formal risk protection, expanding distribution is an important step towards deepening penetration. However, technology must do more than make products available: it must help customers understand what they are buying, what risks are covered and how they can obtain compensation when insured events occur.
Heirs Insurance Group has linked its digital expansion to a customer-service commitment to settle validated claims within 48 hours, an approach intended to strengthen confidence in insurance as a dependable financial safety net.
Commenting on the award, Niyi Onifade, managing director/CEO of Heirs Life Assurance, said the recognition validated the Group’s efforts to make insurance simpler, more accessible and reliable for Nigerians.
“This award is a powerful validation of our commitment to making insurance simple, accessible and reliable for every Nigerian. For too long, millions of people have remained outside the formal insurance ecosystem, leaving them vulnerable to financial uncertainty. We are using technology to help change that reality,” Onifade said.
He added that combining digital innovation, artificial intelligence, multilingual capabilities and customer-focused distribution was helping the Group address traditional barriers to insurance adoption and bring financial protection closer to underserved populations.
“Our mission is to demonstrate that inclusive insurance can be delivered at scale without compromising the quality of the customer experience,” he said.
The award’s Critical Infrastructure (Non-Energy) category recognises private-sector initiatives that strengthen essential infrastructure and improve livelihoods through sustainable and scalable solutions. Heirs’ recognition places digital insurance within a broader conversation about the role of financial services in supporting inclusive economic development.
Heirs Insurance Group operates as the insurance arm of Heirs Holdings, with Heirs General Insurance Limited, Heirs Life Assurance Limited and Heirs Insurance Brokers serving individual and corporate customers across Nigeria.
Modestus Anaesoronye is a leading Nigerian financial journalist with over two decades of experience reporting on the insurance and pension sectors across Nigeria and West Africa. He has held key editorial positions at major national media outlets, including The Comet, The Nation, and Financial Standard, and currently serves as a Senior Financial Analyst at BusinessDay Media Ltd. A widely travelled reporter, he has covered industry developments in more than 14 countries across Africa and Asia. Anaesoronye is a multiple award-winning journalist, honoured several times as Insurance Journalist of the Year and Pension Journalist of the Year by recognised industry bodies, including PensionScope and the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), among others.
