Developing a Data Science Framework for Customer Insights in the Nigerian Insurance Industry

The Nigerian insurance industry has lagged in adopting data-driven customer intelligence approaches, limiting its ability to develop relevant products, price risk accurately, and improve retention in an underinsured market. This study developed a customer insights framework for insurance companies in Nigeria, drawing on practice assessments at four insurance companies in Lagos and Abuja and benchmarking against leading actuarial and customer analytics frameworks from the UK, South Africa, and Kenya insurance markets. A professional framework development methodology was applied with structured consultations with 16 insurance underwriters, actuaries, and marketing managers, and review of NAICOM operational guidelines. The framework specifies five analytical domains: customer risk segmentation using telematics and claims history, lapse prediction and retention scoring, product usage pattern analysis, claims fraud detection, and prospect identification from partner financial institution data. NDPA-compliant data sharing protocols between insurers and bank partners are specified. Model validation requirements under NAICOM actuarial certification guidelines are detailed. Expert review by eleven insurance analytics and data science specialists confirmed the framework's actuarial soundness and market relevance. The study recommends the Nigerian Insurance Association publish the framework as an industry advisory standard, NAICOM incorporate analytics governance into its supervision checklist, and a joint industry data consortium be established to overcome individual company data scarcity challenges in model training.

Keywords: insurance analytics, customer insights, Nigeria, NAICOM, risk segmentation