Ray Ankrah, Chairman, National Insurance Commission (NIC) board of directors, has re-echoed the importance of exhibiting professionalism in the insurance industry of Ghana.
“We all know about the image problem that the insurance industry suffers in Ghana. This is primarily because of the manner we have treated and continue to treat policyholders. We will not achieve the objectives of growing the insurance industry if we do not collectively work to regain the insuring public’s trust. This we can do if we all exhibit professionalism in our work,” the Chairman reiterated.
Speaking at the 8th investiture and swearing-in for executives of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG), he revealed that the National Insurance Commission has rolled out several initiatives to help bolster the insurance sector in Ghana.
According to him, these initiatives stem from enactment of the new insurance Act, and efforts to grow the marine insurance, micro-insurance and agriculture insurance businesses as well as establishment of the motor insurance database.
He also revealed that the new Insurance bill has been passed by parliament, and his Excellency the President of the Republic has assented to it. However, he pointed out that the main reasons for introducing the new Act were born out of growing the insurance industry, bridging gaps in the insurance regulatory framework, and ensuring that the insurance regulatory regime is in line with international best practices on supervision and regulations.
He emphasised that no matter how professional the individuals working in the insurance industry are, policyholder claims will not be paid promptly if the insurance industry is not well capitalised and liquid.
Pointing out that this prompted the underlying reason why the new minimum capital requirements were introduced, he intimated to practitioners present at the investiture programme that the proposed minimum capital requirement is expected to help improve effectiveness, underwriting and retention capacity of insurance companies.
Importantly, it will also facilitate a healthy insurance industry with the needed capacity to support Ghana’s economy and finally help improve insurance penetration.
