Joy Agwunobi
Leadway, one of Nigeria’s foremost non-banking financial services and wellbeing providers, is celebrating its 55th anniversary, spotlighting a journey defined by resilience, innovation, and inclusive impact across Nigeria and West Africa.
Founded in 1970 as a traditional insurance company, Leadway has transformed into a diversified financial services group, offering a wide spectrum of solutions that span life and general insurance, health coverage, pensions, asset and wealth management, estate planning, hospitality, and credit services.
Its evolution reflects a broader mission: to advance financial access, inclusion, and wellbeing for individuals, businesses, and communities across the region.
Speaking on the milestone, Tunde Hassan-Odukale, group managing director of Leadway Holdings, described the company’s growth as closely tied to Nigeria’s own development story.
“Leadway’s journey is, in many ways, the story of Nigeria itself, one of resilience, diversity, and progress. We began with the mission of providing succour and financial freedom through risk management. Over the years, that mission has expanded into building a holistic ecosystem that now encompasses insurance, pensions, health, investments, trusteeship, and hospitality. This milestone is both a testament to the trust we have earned and the excellence we continue to uphold,” he said.
The company has built its reputation as one of Nigeria’s most reliable insurers, consistently demonstrating claims-paying capacity. Between 2016 and 2024, Leadway disbursed close to ₦500 billion in claims, including ₦117 billion in 2024 alone, solidifying its position as the country’s most consistent claims-paying insurer.
Through its Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) subsidiary, Leadway has also expanded access to quality healthcare, delivering award-winning medical services to millions of Nigerians through a network of more than 2,500 hospital providers nationwide. Its pension and asset management subsidiaries continue to secure the financial futures of Nigerians, while strengthening diverse investment portfolios.
Beyond Nigeria, the group has extended its footprint into Francophone West Africa, notably Côte d’Ivoire, through Leadway Assurance, Ankara Services, and Leadway IARD, reinforcing its ambition to be a regional leader in financial services.
Leadway’s impact also extends well beyond finance into entrepreneurship, youth development, and the creative economy. Its Media Dash platform provides visibility to young entrepreneurs and SMEs, while its long-standing support for the Lagos International Trade Fair highlights its role in driving commerce and enterprise.
In the creative sector, the group has sponsored initiatives such as the Lagos Leather Fair, the Nigerian Pavilion at the London Design Biennale, the +234 Art Fair, and the Creative Bloc Carnival,all designed to showcase and nurture emerging talent.
In education and youth engagement, Leadway runs programmes like LeadForward, which offers financial literacy and wellness training to members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and Campus Connect, a university-based initiative promoting learning, entrepreneurship, and wellbeing.
Recognising the importance of gender inclusion, the group launched Hersurred in 2024,a women-focused platform offering mentorship, skills workshops, and networking opportunities, including an annual International Women’s Day event aimed at empowering women across different sectors.
As Leadway reflects on its 55-year journey, the group says it is committed to deepening its leadership role in creating inclusive financial, health, and wellbeing ecosystems. With digital-first solutions at the core of its future strategy, the company says it is positioning itself as Africa’s financial wellbeing powerhouse.
“We are committed to creating the next chapter of Africa’s financial services wellbeing powerhouse, offering digital-first solutions that are unparalleled, people-focused, and competitive on a global scale, with our past guiding us and shaping the future ahead,” Hassan-Odukale reaffirmed.
From insurance and pensions to creative empowerment and regional expansion, Leadway’s five-and-a-half decades of service reflect not only a legacy of trust but also an enduring ambition to drive inclusive growth across Africa.
With the world facing a $0.9 trillion cyber risk protection gap, Zurich has called for the adoption of standardised national cyber security metrics to close it, which would involve the collaboration between governments and the private sector.
This gap highlights the vast difference between economic losses from cyber events and the minimal portion, of just 1%, covered by the re/insurance industry.
In a new report titled “Enhancing cyber security: Key metrics for policymakers,” Zurich, together with the Cyber Threat Alliance and CyberGreen Institute, argues that without comprehensive data, governments and businesses are “flying blind” against rapidly evolving cyber threats.
As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, and blockchain introduce new vulnerabilities, most countries lack the data infrastructure needed to respond effectively.
The report noted that while some national and regional initiatives, such as the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) or the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), offer guidance, there is a distinct absence of standardised national-level metrics to inform policy decisions.
