Contribution of Women in Business in Ghana
Women hold significant financial power as household breadwinners and business owners globally. Ghanaian women have been key to Ghana’s economic transformation, with their considerable participation in the workforce and as businesswomen. They constitute half the population and form 64.5 percent of the labour force—higher than the global average of 46.3 percent[i]. Of working women, 10.9 percent were found to be managerial, technical, and professional workers in 2021[ii]. The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, 2021, ranks Ghana third globally—beating high-income economies—as the country with the most share of female business owners (37.2 percent). It finds Ghanaian businesswomen aspirational, driven, and defying the odds. More women than men engage in early-stage entrepreneurial activities[iii], showing a willingness to take risks, and thus a need for insurance. Women entrepreneurs can be found in both the formal and informal sectors.
The informal sector contributes 35.6 percent to Ghana’s GDP,[iv] and women form a sizable share of this—almost 90 percent of Ghanaian women in the labour market are in the informal sector, working mainly as market traders[v] but also as farmers, food processors, artisans, and craft workers.
Challenges of Women in Business
Female entrepreneurs often face unique challenges in the business world, from the gender pay gap to balancing work and family responsibilities. These challenges make it even more crucial for women entrepreneurs to plan ahead and protect their businesses and loved ones. Securing one’s financial future becomes paramount in this context, and life insurance is vital to this financial planning.
Benefits of Life Insurance for Women in Business
Life insurance, traditionally, is often associated with providing financial support to loved ones after a policyholder’s passing. While this is a crucial aspect of life insurance, it also plays a vital role in financial planning.
For businesswomen, it is imperative to prepare for significant life events and fulfill financial commitments such as growing a family, buying, or building a house, paying for children’s education, caring for parents/guardians, preparing for retirement, and catering for long-term needs.
Life insurance thus serves as a versatile and robust tool to provide financial stability and safeguard investments. The following illustrates how life insurance products and particularly SIC Life products can help women in business to secure their financial future and stability:
Immediate Cash in Emergencies.
In times of emergencies such as loss of employment, low earnings, and reduced purchasing power due to inflation, women in business need funds to sustain their lifestyles and cater for their daily expenses. Universal life insurance policies particularly provide policyholders with the opportunity to withdraw a portion of their cash value, to meet their personal exigencies and at the same time provide a life cover in the event of their demise. In the fortunate event that these emergency occurrences coincide with the maturity periods of the life insurance policies, the policyholders can cash out the accumulated cash value to support their needs in such times. SIC Life offers the Ultimate Family Security Plan which enables clients to access up to 50 percent of their accumulated cash value after 24 months of continuous premium contribution. Moreover, the policy allows clients to borrow against the cash value of their policy of up to 80 percent of the accumulated cash value after 12 months of regular premium payment.
The low-income earners are not left out since the Company has a microinsurance policy christened Sika Plan, which enables clients to contribute as low as GHS 5 daily to secure fixed guaranteed sum assured of GHS 500 and the opportunity to make withdrawals from accumulated fund value after four months of continuous premium payment.
- For Retirement
Everyone including women in business looks forward to a stress free and comfortable life after their working life comes to an end. The quality of life during retirement is mostly contingent on the wealth accumulation of an individual over time. There are life insurance products which give individuals the benefits of supplementing their retirement income and sustaining the lifestyle they had during their working cycle, even in retirement. SIC Life provides the Guaranteed Endowment Plan which has a minimum period of 5 years and maximum period of 20 years, enabling one to set money aside for retirement whilst enjoying life cover over the period.
For Legacy Planning
Most people, especially women in business, would like to part away with or leave behind something substantial for their children/dependents and loved ones. This desire is usually borne of bequest motives and stems from the perspective of obligation. In some cases, they are not able to build the desired wealth over their working lifecycle to transfer to the next generation due to ever-increasing costs of fundamental expenses like higher education, homeownership, health care and even untimely death. It is at this juncture that life insurance products become necessary. This is because the lump sum payouts of life insurance policies can offer an ample package which can serve as inheritance to bequest to dependents. SIC Life offers the Guaranteed Endowment Plan which can provide a substantial guaranteed amount of money (sum assured) that can be passed onto the dependents of the policyholder in the event of their demise.
Covers Children’s Education Costs
The education of children is of paramount concern for every parent/guardian. This is because education offers a sure way of safeguarding the future job prospects of the children. In light of this, parents do endeavor to put away some money to cater for the educational needs of their children, especially at the tertiary level. The good news is that, should the parents/guardians pass on, the education of their children would not be truncated since there are life insurance products which provide a substantial guaranteed lump sum to cater for their schooling costs and other milestone events, such as marriage or starting a business. SIC Life sells an Education Plan Plus product which has a minimum term of 10 years and a maximum term of 20 years. The range of the policy duration gives the policyholder the ability to accumulate funds over a long period to meet the educational expense of their children. Moreover, when the policyholder chooses higher sum assureds, the amount is substantial enough to meet the education cost of their children should they (the policyholder) pass on.
- Provide Funds for Long Term Needs
There are some people who would prefer to fund their long-term needs such buying a car or building a house, by accumulating funds over time instead of using the route of taking loans. The good thing is that there are life insurance products which provide individuals with the benefit of offering the desired amount and life cover even after their demise. SIC Life provides the Guaranteed Endowment Plan which helps policyholders to dedicate themselves to a savings and investment plan aimed at accumulating funds. The policy offers clients to either subscribe to a 5, 10, 15, or 20-year duration of the policy. Should the policyholder pass on before the maturity of the policy, the beneficiaries receive the guaranteed sum assured.
Serves as an Income Replacement
The income of the breadwinner provides sustenance for the livelihood of their families and that of their future aspirations. In the event of death, total permanent disability or diagnoses of a critical illness, their families lose the financial support they were obtaining from the breadwinner. A life insurance policy is able to provide a substantial payout which provides the family with a lifeline to cater for their daily needs and protect the lifestyle of the family. Thus, the life insurance policy can replace some of the lost income of the family as a result of the demise or incapacitation of the principal wage earner. SIC Life offers the Group Security Plan which has optional benefits of paying out a portion or multiples of annual income in the event of hospitalization, total or temporal incapacitation.
- Reprieve from Debts
In most cases, people accrue debts by obtaining loans to fund business projects and the accumulation of assets such as cars, houses, and other properties. If they pass away, the liability thus falls on their dependents to defray these outstanding debts. Fortunately, there are life insurance products which can absolve the dependents from the liabilities arising from the loans contracted by the borrower of the loans.
SIC Life sells the Loan Protector policy which protects financial institutions from their clients’ unpaid obligations occasioned by death or total and permanent disablement of loan beneficiaries and ultimately exonerates their dependents from outstanding loan obligations. At the occurrence of the insurable events within the repayment period, the principal of the outstanding loan is paid to the financial institution once a claim is submitted. Moreover, SIC Life offers the Mortgage Protection Plan with a coverage period from 1 to 25 years and the main purpose of the policy is to cover the outstanding loan on a house purchase mortgage upon the death of the policyholder.
- Protecting Businesses from Loss of Key Persons
In most companies and businesses, there are key personalities/personnel whose expertise is crucial to the business. This means that if they should pass away, the company would be severely impacted. There are life insurance policies which are designed to protect enterprises from the loss of these critical people by providing a generous financial package if they die.
This cash payout is able to help businesses find a suitable replacement for the key employee. Also, if the key person is the business owner, the payout can be used to pay off business loans. Moreover, the large cash lump sum that can be used by the business for cash flow so it can continue to trade. SIC Life has a product called the Keyman Assurance policy which satisfies the preceding benefits mentioned. Moreover, the duration of the policy ranges from 1 to 5 years.
Conclusion
From the above, it is imperative that women in business needs to protect themselves, their businesses and families from unforeseen events that may jeopardize their financial plans/security.
Hence, they are highly encouraged to sign up to any of SIC Life’s tailor-made products now to enjoy the financial security they need and have an absolute peace of mind.
Kindly call SIC Life on 0302750151/0501570652/0501456983(WhatsApp) or visit our website, www.siclife.com.gh for a live chat.
[i] Gender Database, World Bank, https://genderdata.worldbank.org/countries/ghana/
[ii] Ghana 2021 Population and Housing Census, https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/
[iii] The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs. Mastercard Foundation, March 2022 https://www.mastercard.com/news/media/phwevxcc/the-mastercard-index-of-women-entrepreneurs.pdf
[iv] World Economics. https://www.worldeconomics.com/Country-Data/Ghana.aspx
[v] All traders in designated markets across Ghana, WEIGO Statistical Brief, 2020 https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/WIEGO_Statistical_Brief_N21_0.pdf
