Dr Duffuor calls on insurers to introduce micro-insurance products for informal sector
Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, has called on players in the insurance industry to introduce micro-insurance products for operators in the informal sector.
He expressed dissatisfaction that insurance penetration represented 1.6 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, stressing that insurers were not doing enough to extend products and services especially to rural folks and to those in the informal sector.
Dr Duffuor made the call in a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Finance Minister Seth Tekper, at the launch of the 2011 Insurance Awareness Month organized by the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) in Accra.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Professionalism and Ethics: The Bedrock of a Strong and Viable Insurance Industry in Ghana.”
Dr Duffuor appealed to insurance companies to tailor their products to the needs and circumstances of the citizenry as well as to take advantage of available technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.
He said professionalism and ethics were critical to business management adding insurance principles required that underwriting needed to be done scientifically, claims made promptly and reinsurance done adequately.
Dr Duffuor commended the National Insurance Commission (NIC) for improving the legal and regulatory environment to ensure an efficient and thriving insurance industry to meet the demands of changing socio-economic environment.
Mrs. Nyamikeh Kyiamah, Commissioner of Insurance, expressed disquiet that insurance companies were faced with challenges that included price undercutting and huge premium debt describing them as a dent in insurers’ reputation.
She said she was hopeful that the month-long celebration would be used to discuss and address ways players in the industry could improve their business behaviour to salvage their sinking image.
Mr Benjamin Acolatse, President of GIA said he was optimistic that the recently established Ghana and Oil and Gas Insurance Pool, which currently had more than $2.5 million in premium income and reinsurance commission, would accumulate enough money to capitalize “a special purpose limited liability company to manage the oil and gas insurance business in Ghana.”
Source: GNA