Given the ever-changing needs of customers, it has become imperative for insurance companies to leverage financial technology (fintech) to improve efficiency and increase penetration, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GLICO, Edward Forkuo Kyei, has stated.
According to him, even though technology comes with some challenges it must be viewed more as a beneficial tool.
“As premium collectors, as insurance companies, as entities that rope-in incomes that come in trickles, you definitely need such arrangements to support you in doing so. And this is one space that fintechs have come to fill. You are also looking at payment of claims, and it is important that it touches on credibility of our companies; and to be able to do so efficiently, it is important we use some of these things.
“Tech is something positive that has come, and we need to leverage on it to improve efficiency and also reach out to more clients. Insurance is one area where penetration is low, and I believe that this is an area we can use it to improve on penetration,” he said.
The CEO made these remarks as speaker of a plenary session for the 2023 Money Summit organised by the Business and Financial Times on Tuesday in Accra.
The topic for the plenary was ‘Africa’s robust securities industry: The role of Insurance, pensions, fund managers and other market players’.
This year’s Money Summit, themed ‘Africa’s robust financial sector: The catalyst for a sustainable economic growth’, brought together seasoned professionals in the finance industry to brainstorm and provide solutions for identified challenges and seek feedback and input from critical stakeholders. These professionals also offered contributions aimed at significantly shaping government policy, to ultimately position the financial sector as a leader in the country’s recovery efforts.
The insurance penetration rate in Ghana, which was below 1 percent in 2009, saw a minimal increase but is still below 2 percent – a situation that has been a source of worry to players in the industry.
In her submission, another panellist, Dzifa Fiati, Head-Group Business Starlife Assurance, tagged fintechs as enablers in the insurance business that can help the industry reach its vast untapped market in the country.
“We realise that in Ghana we have not had so much mileage with this process. Our insurance penetration is still below 2 percent, whereas in some other markets of Africa it supplies about 17 percent to GDP. So we realise that we have a lot of untapped markets; there is a lot we need to do and so we welcome fintechs on board to help us in reducing cost, and also meet the demands or needs of our customers,” she said.
As regards collaboration with fintechs, Chief Investment Officer-Axis Pensions Trust, Nana Wiafe Boamah, suggested that insurers must consider providing finance for the growth and expansion of fintechs in the country.
He said: “As long-term providers of finance, we can also collaborate by financing some of these fintechs to grow further within the constraints of our investment guidelines”.
