By Elliot WILLIAMS
The Ghana Insurance College (GIC) last week held its 18th Graduation Dinner & Awards ceremony in Accra. The event was held in the forecourt of the National Insurance Commission.
Altogether, 254 students graduated – all of whom are already insurance industry practitioners working with various insurance firms in Ghana. The graduating class of 2024 comprised 14 graduates with Certificates in Insurance, and 141 with Diplomas in Applied Insurance Studies.
They were joined by graduates in Advanced Diploma in Insurance (Advanced Applied Insurance Studies) from 2023, comprising 22 with Claims Specialty; 24 with Insurance Broking Specialty; 41 with Advanced Underwriting Specialty; and 10 with Life and Health Insurance Specialty.
The Guest Speaker at the event was Baba Mahama, President of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International, Ghana, who is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Insurer. He is a retired CEO of Vanguard Assurance and subsequent President of the Ghana Insurers Association.
Graduating students were conferred for their awards by Dr Abiba Zakariah, Commissioner of Insurance and the Chairperson of the GIC’s Governing Council. Their certificates were presented by Richard Okyere, the GIC’s Director.
The Director also presented awards for the most outstanding students in the three broad categories of study: Certificate in Insurance; Advanced Insurance Studies Diploma; and Advanced Applied Insurance Studies Diploma.
The Overall Best Student with regards to Certificate in Insurance, 2024, was Amaweklu Mamah from Metropolitan Life Insurance, while overall best award student for the Diploma in Insurance, 2024, was Doreen Ewoenan Asamany of Enterprise Life.
Special Awards were also given to five class of 2024 graduates in: introduction to insurance and legal aspects; personal lines insurances; commercial property insurance; liability insurance; motor insurance and; statistics and interest theory for insurers.
With regards to the class of 2023 group, the overall best students award with regards to Advanced Diploma in Insurance was shared between Elizabeth Quandzie of Glico General and Mavis Nimako of SIC General.
Special Awards were conferred on outstanding students in the two compulsory subjects in this course – economics & business as well as the business of insurance & regulatory environment.
Awards were also conferred on the most outstanding students from the 2023 class with regards to electives in the Advanced Diploma in Insurance.
The awards were for: advanced underwriting management; advanced claims management; insurance broking; marketing insurance products; advanced risk financing and transfer; marine hull and associated liabilities; strategic claims management; life, critical illness and disability underwriting; life, critical illness and disability claims; private medical insurance.
A special award was also conferred on Glico General’s Doreen Ewoenan Asamany as Overall Best Female Student in the Diploma in Insurance class, while Glico General’s Elizabeth Quandzie and SIC General’s Mavis Nimako shared the overall best female students award with regards to the Advanced Diploma in Insurance.
The GIC was established in 2006 to provide professional training to insurance industry practitioners in Ghana by the principal stakeholders in the industry, these being the National Insurance Commission itself, the Ghana Insurers Association, the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), and the Chartered Insurance Institute – Ghana (CIIG). It is run by a Governing Board, an Academic Board and a Management Team.
The College currently has 34 lecturers, comprising some of the most experienced, skilled, accomplished and highly placed insurance industry chieftains in Ghana including the incumbent Insurance Commissioner, Dr Abiba Zakariah herself.
Some 107 alumni of the GIC have attained Associateship currently.
