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Nigeria has produced billion-dollar technology companies in payments and in talent. Insurance has not yet produced one. That gap is the question the organisers of Insurance Meets Tech have put at the centre of their fifth edition, and they have picked a founder who has built two of those companies to lead the discussion.
Insurance Meets Tech, known as IMT, announced that Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave and founding partner of the venture firm Future Africa, will be its headline speaker. IMT 5.0 takes place on Friday, November 20, 2026, at the Balmoral Event Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, under the theme “Building Insurance That Connects.” Aboyeji will deliver a presentation titled “Capital, Code and the Race to Nigeria’s First Insurance Unicorn,” according to the organisers’ statement issued on Monday.
The talk will examine how a better-capitalised industry, combined with technology that can reach customers at scale, could place insurance on the digital platforms Nigerians already use, and what it would take for a homegrown insurer to reach a billion-dollar valuation. The conference convener, Odion Aleobua, explained the choice by pointing to Aboyeji’s position on both sides of the table: he built two of those companies and now backs the next generation of founders. Nigeria has built billion-dollar companies in payments and talent, Aleobua said, while insurance is still waiting for its breakout moment.
Aboyeji’s own comment frames the argument in three parts. Insurers now have the capital, he said, and the technology to reach customers at scale is already here. What remains is building products that live inside platforms people trust, and that, in his view, is how the first insurance unicorn gets built. He added that shareholders who committed fresh capital expect growth to justify it, while Nigerians expect insurance to be as simple and accessible as the digital services they use daily.
The timing reflects a changed industry. The conference follows the recapitalisation of Nigerian insurers and the implementation of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, known as NIIRA, both of which are expected to reshape the sector, according to coverage of the announcement. Higher capital requirements are meant to make insurers stronger and better able to pay claims, and they have pushed many companies to raise fresh money, which in turn raises the pressure to grow premiums and reach more people. Insurance penetration in Nigeria has long been low, and the argument for partnering with technology firms is that digital distribution, through apps, payment platforms and messaging, can reach people that agents and branches cannot.
IMT describes itself as West Africa’s leading insurance and technology conference, and says that across four editions it has become the region’s main platform for executive dialogue where the two industries meet. Organisers expect executives, founders, regulators, investors and policymakers from both sectors. The announcements reviewed name Aboyeji as the headline speaker but do not list the other speakers, ticket prices or the full programme, so anyone planning to attend should check the organisers’ channels.
What should attendees listen for? Three practical questions stand out. Which products can insurers embed into platforms customers already trust, instead of asking them to download something new? How can fresh capital be turned into growth without weakening claims service? And what will regulators require as technology-led distribution grows? If Aboyeji’s talk and the panels around it answer those questions with specifics, the conference could do more than celebrate the idea of an insurance unicorn. It could show what building one would actually require.
