The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has directed all app-based transport, food delivery, and logistics companies in Nigeria to ensure that their workers are covered by health insurance in line with the federal government’s compulsory health insurance policy.

The directive, issued pursuant to the September 2025 Presidential Mandate on mandatory health insurance, seeks to enforce compliance with the provisions of the NHIA Act 2022, which makes health insurance compulsory for all Nigerians and legal residents.

In a notice addressed to operators in the digital transport and logistics ecosystem, the NHIA stated that evidence of health insurance coverage for independent contractors and self-employed workers would now be part of the requirements for obtaining operational licences, permits, and higher-level regulatory approvals.

The agency warned that failure by platform operators to provide health insurance access for workers and enrollees would constitute a breach of the NHIA Act.

The directive, signed by the director of the Formal Sector Department, N.N. Ajodi, is expected to deepen social protection coverage for workers in Nigeria’s rapidly expanding gig economy.

Commenting on the development, the president of the African Forum for Restorative Justice (AFRJ), Prof. John Omale, said the digital labour worker initiative was designed to extend social protection to workers in app-based transport, food delivery and logistics services.

He explained that the initiative, funded by the Balzan Foundation, adapts restorative justice principles to labour and industrial relations while aligning with international frameworks, including the International Labour Organisation Recommendation No. 198, the United Nations Guiding Principles on business and human rights, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Omale said Nigeria’s existing labour framework had yet to adequately address the realities of self-employed and informal workers operating on digital platforms.

He noted that the initiative promotes a “shared responsibility model” under which digital platforms, regulators and communities collaborate to improve workers’ welfare without relying solely on punitive enforcement measures.

He added that the pilot phase of the programme would focus on developing memoranda of understanding between regulators and digital platform operators to facilitate corporate social responsibility commitments and broader social protection measures for workers.

Omale further said that sustained collaboration between regulators and platform operators would help shape future labour legislation while balancing the interests of workers, businesses, and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s digital economy.