Kemi Ajumobi 
Bimbo Onakomaiya is an Economist by training, and a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London with a career in insurance spanning over 40 years.
Her career started as an Associate, Hill Samuel Life Investment Services, Wales, United Kingdom before relocating to Nigeria, joining NICON Insurance in 1987 and becoming the company’s first female fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute London (FCII). Trailblazing for the ten-year service at NICON Insurance, she honed her skills in special risks, marine, oil, energy and reinsurance classes of insurance.
She moved to Anderson to open the consulting world to the insurance industry and vis-versa, thus enhancing partnerships that have now spanned decades.
From there, she worked with Unic Insurance Plc. She later became AGM (Oil & Energy), where she was until December 2002 before becoming the pioneer Managing Director/CEO of Peakthrust Insurance Brokers Ltd from 2003 till date.
Bimbo is a Governing Council Member, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and the 15th President of Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), the first female professional body in Nigeria established in 1973, which is an affiliate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), encompassing all the chartered female insurance professionals in Nigeria.
Treasured Forte
Four decades in the insurance sector and three of them in leadership, the most important lesson I have learnt is to focus on the provision of insurance services to the insuring public. Everybody has a pain point that insurance can help to fulfill. Finding that pain point and taking on the risk has been my forte.
Advice to women interested in the insurance field
Emerging female leaders are even more fortunate now than those of us that started earlier on. Technology and the emergence of insuretech startups has made the terrain easier to navigate, so the provision of insurance related solutions to the public and businesses has become easier. You only need to be available as a leader to take up the mantle.
Strategically strengthening the insurance industry’s credibility
PILA represents the Professional Insurance Ladies Association, and we are not really a stand-alone association. We have the umbrella body of the regulator NAICOM who supervises the entire industry. Immediately below them is the Chartered Insurance Institute and the President is also a female. We also have the Director General of the Nigerian Insurance Association who is female. The President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers is female. Since insurance has the peculiarity of providing a buffer from the cradle to the grave, liaising with these various bodies in strategic market initiatives has been very easy and worthwhile. We realised long ago that we are all working together towards the same goal in the same financial ecosystem, which is the provision of comprehensive insurance as a risk management mechanism for the client.
Technology and insurance
Technology under the broad focus of Insuretech is transforming the insurance landscape.This is then strengthened by the latest NIIRA (Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025) signed into law by our highly esteemed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR in August 2025 which is a highly comprehensive legal document that backs up all aspects of insurance and the applicability of same. The cream of the cake is the highly versatile regulator, NAICOM (National Insurance Commission ) that has taken steps to “enforce” the NIIRA 2025 for the gain of the Insuring public.
Going forward,( of course which we have already started) is the enlightenment of our 500 strong professional leaders at PILA to key into the aspect that most concerns them as per their insurance specialisation. This enlightenment is taking place by way of educational webinars, cross border activities, AfCfTa exposures and enhancement of the knowledge capacity in their specific insurance portfolios.
Top three advice for successor
The top three pieces of advice for my successor includes encouraging her to sustain the advocacy pipeline, the educational pipeline and the insuretech pipeline.
Broadening the pipeline for women into executive roles
This entails making them aware that these roles even exist. Pending discussion with the WILAN-WISCAR-WIMBIZ already existing coalition is one advocacy path that we have been exploring and we are positive that a major partnership pathway can be achieved.
Succession plan in PILA
The succession plan within PILA is very adequate as elections are conducted every year. The most important leadership entry point is that of the Vice President who understudies the next presidency level for two years before being given the opportunity to come in as the Deputy President for a two-year tenure, before being given the opportunity to become the President for another two years. Of course there is the body of the past Presidents who are always willing and available to guide.
Women representation in insurance
The changes of representation of women in insurance leadership has been very encouraging, more so, during my tenure as the president of PILA in the past two years, where the theme of my office has been: ‘Enlarge Your Coast and Expand Your Horizon.’
I am glad to inform you that we have had over 15 insurance ladies take up positions within the C-Suite of insurance broking firms, insurance loss adjusting firms, insurance companies, reinsurance companies as Acting Managing Directors, Managing Directors (confirmed by NAICOM), Independent Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors of even other companies in the financial ecosystem. I particularly believe that this is God backing up my theme and thrust of office for which we give Him all the glory
Barriers encountered in industry
Personally, I have not come across any barriers as such. I started my insurance career in the United Kingdom, and because that society is very cut and dried in the area of financial regulations, I really did not have any challenges.
On relocating to Nigeria however, I found out that the qualifications which I had already started acquiring in the UK stood me in good stead and I just rose through the ranks to the position of Assistant General Manager in my organisation. My stint at the then Andersen Consulting (Accenture) gave me leverage that I would otherwise may not have had, and so when I decided to start my own business as an insurance broker, compliance, regulatory and qualification challenges did not arise.
Need for support from men in the industry
Truth be told, we are not even in competition at all. The male are still more in number and the females are all just coming up. My advice is to assist the best they can, but it must be merit drive and not tokenism. That is when the female will be able to hold her own in any situation in which she finds herself.
The role of mentorship and sponsorship
The role of mentorship and sponsorship cannot be overemphasised, and this is not peculiar to the insurance profession. This holds sway in any career and of course at PILA we have a programme of mentorship and sponsorship in place to help the younger and up and coming career executives find their niche and their place in the scheme of things.
How to stay on top in the insurance industry
Focus, integrity, grit, knowledge, capacity and networking.
Reminiscing on tenure as 15th President of PILA
It was important for me to stay humble knowing fully well that I was at the helm of affairs of a female group that had over 500 ladies, all with different expectations and all at different levels of their career. We had to focus on education in more than one sphere of knowledge especially because both the insurance world, the technological world and the financial ecosystem are all changing simultaneously. Getting the ladies to participate needed additional skill on my part, but thank God that I had a formidable exco who understood my thrust of office and we worked well together.
Valedictory and Award Event
The valedictory and award event was the first of its kind in the over 50years of PILA’s existence.
We felt it was important to honour those who had partnered with us during my 2-year Presidency. We used a committee system of operation, and of course there were subcommittees. We also had over twenty educational partners, as well as our branding and social media partners. We just had to recognise them all and use the opportunity to say a huge Thank You.
The theme of the lecture was ‘Audacious, Vivacious, Victorious’ and it speaks to the path we had to tread during the Presidency and the outcome, for which we are grateful to God. The response so far has been extremely positive.
What next after tenure?
Wow!!! I would first take a well earned holiday, and on my return, pick the next task on my bucket list (which is academic in nature and content) for completion by God’s grace before the end of 2026.
Worthy of mention
It is so important that the NIIRA 2025 be loudly announced, and we really thank our regulator NAICOM who is already making strides in this respect. All arms of the insurance industry must also ensure that the insuring public is made very conscious of the relevance of insurance to their lives and living.
Greatest Life Lessons
Fear God and involve Him in everything you do.
Refuse mediocrity in all its ramifications. Stay career relevant, stay socially relevant and stay humble.
In conclusion
I must state that I am indeed grateful to God for this opportunity of leading these wonderful career women as their President for the past two years. It has indeed been a humbling experience and a learning curve. I am much better prepared for the national and international stage which I have kept in-view and participated in peripherally during this two year period. I thank my family for their love and support. I am also grateful to you Kemi and your company, Inspiring Woman Africa (IWA) for taking time to interview me.