Why marine cargo on Nigerian imports has to be insured locally

Marine cargo insurance is compulsory for anyone importing into Nigeria, and the cover has to sit with an insurer registered here. An importer opens a Form M, the bank asks for a marine certificate from a Nigerian insurer, and the certificate the supplier sent from overseas turns out to be useless for the purpose. This happens constantly.

The rule

Section 82 of the Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025 requires goods imported into Nigeria to be insured, and the cover to be placed with an insurer registered in Nigeria. A policy bought abroad, or bundled into a CIF price by the supplier, does not satisfy it. The requirement is tied into the Form M process, so in practice the bank will not process the documentation without local cover.

The rule itself is not new. It carried over from section 67 of the Insurance Act 2003, which the 2025 Act repealed. What changed is the framing: marine cargo is now named as a compulsory class in its own right, sitting in the same list as third party motor and group life, rather than being tucked away as a local content provision.

Why buying CIF is the usual trap

Under CIF terms the seller arranges the insurance, which sounds convenient until you need to claim. The policy is written under someone else's law, with an insurer who has no presence here, and the person holding the cargo when it is damaged is not the person named on the cover.

Buying on CFR or FOB terms and arranging your own marine cover locally costs slightly more attention and considerably less grief.

What marine cargo usually covers

• Physical loss or damage to goods in transit by sea, air, road or inland waterway
• Loading and offloading
• General average, which is the shared cost when cargo is sacrificed to save a voyage
• Specified marine perils, with war and strikes normally excluded unless arranged separately

General average is worth understanding before you need it. If a vessel gets into trouble and cargo is jettisoned, every cargo owner on that ship contributes to the loss, including the ones whose goods arrived intact. Without cover, that contribution comes out of your pocket before your container is released.

Insure the landed cost, not the invoice value. Freight, duty and handling are all money you have spent and will not get back if the goods never arrive.

Containers are a separate requirement

Section 203 of the same Act requires container insurance, covering loss, damage or liability while the container is in transit and being handled. It sits apart from the cargo inside it, which catches out anyone who assumed a single marine policy dealt with both. If you move goods in containers regularly, check which of the two you actually hold.