NIGERIA'S NAICOM WILL ISSUE TAKAFUL GUIDELINES BY SEPTEMBER

Nigeria's National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said that takaful insurance, insurance that is compliant with Islam financial law, would be opened up for Nigerians who want to avail themselves of non-profit risk protection services. Insurance Commissioner Fola Daniel said that takaful insurance guidelines would be released by the commission before the end of September 2012. Mr Daniel said that offering takaful insurance would deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria, which has a sizeable Muslim population. He predicted that by July the guidelines should be ready and that by September "we should be in a position to issue out licences". He claimed that takaful was "not about religion really", but was a means of sharing risks rather than transferring them, whether they are Christians or Muslims".