Nigeria, Aug. 11 -- Insurance stocks are the rave of the moment. The completion of a radical revamp of the sector, leading last week to the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, is profoundly boosting confidence in insurance stocks.

During the week alone, the sector returned 41 per cent, its best performance since 2009, according to Nigerian Exchange data. In all, the all-share index yielded 3.2 per cent.

"We anticipate bullish bias in the equities market, as investors continue to reprice stocks higher on the back of broadly impressive corporate earnings," investment bank Meristem Securities had projected, going into the week.

This week, increased demand for insurance equities is expected to drive the current run of gains in the sect...