The Nigerian Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) has launched a nationwide study aimed at identifying barriers to health insurance participation among workers in Nigeria’s informal sector.
The initiative, known as the Informal Sector Health Insurance Participation and Enrollment in Nigeria (INSPIRE-NG) Study, was unveiled during a stakeholder engagement meeting in Abuja.
The meeting brought together representatives of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the Federal Ministry of Health, state health insurance agencies, health maintenance organisations, development partners and health financing experts.
Speaking at the event, Interim Chief Executive Officer of NSSF, Dr. Adedayo Aderibigbe, said the study sought to generate evidence needed to improve health insurance coverage among informal sector workers.
Aderibigbe noted that the informal sector accounts for about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce, yet health insurance coverage among the group remains low.
He said the situation exposed millions of Nigerians to catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditures and financial hardship.
According to him, understanding the realities and priorities of informal workers is critical to designing health insurance models that are practical, trusted and responsive to their needs.
“For too long, conversations around health insurance coverage have focused primarily on the formal sector, while millions of informal sector workers remain uninsured and vulnerable to financial shocks caused by illness.
“INSPIRE-NG presents an opportunity to generate the evidence needed to understand these realities and develop practical, scalable solutions that work for Nigerians,” he said.
Aderibigbe added that the study was expected to provide actionable insights capable of increasing insurance coverage, strengthening health systems and improving health outcomes.
Petra Global Consulting, the organisation leading the study implementation, said the research would be conducted in six states representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
The states are Ogun, Delta, Enugu, Kano, Borno and Kwara.
According to the firm, the study will involve more than 4,200 respondents and include focus group discussions as well as key informant interviews.
It said the research would examine awareness, affordability, trust, digital inclusion, payment preferences, enrolment intentions and healthcare-seeking behaviour influencing insurance uptake.
Stakeholders at the meeting described the initiative as timely and capable of providing evidence needed to strengthen health financing policies and improve enrolment strategies for the informal sector.
Dr. Gbenga Ijaodola, Deputy Director in the Planning, Research and Statistics Department of the Federal Ministry of Health, said the study would help stakeholders better understand the reasons behind low health insurance coverage.
“This research will open up many opportunities to ask the right questions.
“The study is a pacesetter because we need to understand why we have very low health insurance coverage, especially in the informal sector.
“This is a big opportunity to learn more and gather evidence on how to improve the demand side for health insurance,” he said.
Ijaodola expressed confidence that the findings would provide valuable insights for policymakers and implementers working to expand health insurance participation and accelerate progress toward universal health coverage.
NSSF said findings from the study would guide the development of targeted interventions and pilot models that could be refined and scaled across states.
The organisation added that consultations with stakeholders would continue as data collection activities commence in the selected states.
The stakeholder engagement marks the first phase of the INSPIRE-NG project, which seeks to improve financial protection and access to quality healthcare for Nigerians in the informal sector.
