Ten months, after the last recapitalisation in the sector, investors have impatiently continued to mount pressure on the insurance companies to deliver returns after pumping in capital to assist the companies to scale the recapitalisation hurdle.

However, the post consolidation performance of the insurance sector can be viewed from several aspects.

These include the attractions of foreign investors, capital base, branch expansion, staff capacity, product development and returns to investors among others.

The Managing Director, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, confirmed that $600m came inth the as direct foreign investment through the Nigerian Stock Exchange during insurance industry's consolidation.

He noted that the fact that investors have been investing billions in the sector was a sign that the perception about insurance in Nigeria had changed for the better.

According to him, insurance companies were now stronger and set to compete with banks, telecoms and other sectors to get a higher percentage of disposable incomes.

With international involvements, he added, lots of stakeholders had come in to enhance business growth in the sector.

This, he added had made corporate governance more pronounced within the industry.

"We used to have mushroom companies because of the entry requirement, now the surviving companies are what you can call mega professional ethical companies, efficiently run. So this is what has become of the industry," Ogunbiyi said.

Capital wise, the industry, no doubt had recorded a remarkable increase.

The Nigerian Insurers Association released the last financial report of the sector which stated that in 2007, the sector recorded a premium income of N117bn from N82bn that it posted in 2006, a42 per cent rise.

The financial report added that the sector's market recapitalisation increased almost ten-fold N25.9bn in 2006 to N206bn in 2007.

h added that during the period under review, the industry paid claims totaling N35.2bn, thus attesting to their ability to pay genuine claims promptly and expeditiously.

Prior to recapitalisation, the insurance companies were not very visible and accessible, which gave room for fake operators with proliferation of fake certificates.

However, in the post consolidation era the companies have been adopting different methods to increase their branches in order to become more accessible.

The most popular strategy, which the bank-owned insurance companies adopted that other insurance companies also copied, is the bancassurance strategy.

Bancassurance is the provision of a wide range of banking, savings, insurance, investment and general insurance products to the bank's existing customers through the banks networks.

Mutual Benefits Assurance commenced operations in Liberia in January, Equity Assurance Plc and Regency Alliance also opened shop in Ghana Staco Insurance Plc opened in Sierra Leone, while Industrial and General Insurance acquired majority stake in Rwanda's largest insurer, SONARWA.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, said that with the recent enforcement of some insurance laws, which had been left dormant in the Insurance Act, the Nigerian insurance industry would soon overtake other sectors.

He noted that with the efforts set to achieve the 100 per cent local content in oil and gas, the companies were already equipping themselves in order to be able to meet the challenges of retaining the risk in the country.

The recent launch of the compulsory insurance of public buildings and buildings under constructions, he noted was a major landmark, which would also contribute immensely to the premium of the sector.