Strategic IT Planning and Alignment with Organisational Goals in Nigerian Insurance Companies

Insurance companies in Nigeria increasingly depend on technology for claims management, customer relationship management, and regulatory reporting, yet the alignment between IT strategic planning and overarching business objectives in the sector remains inadequately assessed. This study examines strategic IT planning and business-IT alignment in Nigerian insurance companies. A professional survey was administered to 50 IT directors, CTOs, and business operations managers at insurance companies across Lagos and Abuja. Business-IT alignment was assessed using the Henderson and Venkatraman Strategic Alignment Model, adapted with Nigeria-specific strategic planning indicators. Supplementary focus group discussions with two groups of five IT and business managers each provided qualitative perspectives. Results indicate that only 28 percent of surveyed companies have formal IT strategy documents aligned with their corporate strategic plans. IT investment prioritisation is driven by operational urgency rather than strategic roadmaps in 66 percent of companies. Companies with higher business-IT alignment scores demonstrate significantly lower operational cost ratios and higher claims processing efficiency. Digital insurance (InsurTech) adoption is accelerating but fragmented, driven by individual department initiatives without enterprise architecture oversight. The study concludes that Nigerian insurance companies require structured strategic IT planning processes to realise the full value of technology investment and recommends adoption of the TOGAF enterprise architecture framework as a planning standard, supported by a professional capacity development programme for insurance IT leaders.

Keywords: strategic IT planning, business-IT alignment, Nigerian insurance, enterprise architecture, IT governance