The 39th General Assembly of the Council of Bureaux of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme has been held in Accra. The five day meeting ended last week Friday and brought together representatives of the Brown Card scheme’s various national bureau from all across Anglophone West Africa; their francophone counterparts in the sub region operate their own different scheme designed for the same purpose.
The Brown Card scheme extends motor insurance cover for card holders across all the countries signed up to the initiative and thus is crucial towards facilitating the movement of persons and goods between those countries.
After registration of participants and as Executive Committee Meeting held on Monday, the official opening of the meetings was held on Tuesday. Starting with address from several key officials involved in the scheme’s implementation and ongoing further evolution. Two technical presentations then followed. The first was on ‘Positioning the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme as a specialized institution/agency of the ECOWAS Commission for effective free movement and trade facilitation’ delivered by Professor Jonathon Aremu, a highly accomplished and internationally respected Nigerian economist who is currently the facilitator of Trade, Investment and Competitiveness of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture.
The second addressed the ‘Implications of automatic issuance and digitalization of the Ecowas Brown Card within the ECOWAS space, and was delivered by Richard Eshun, General Secretary of the Ghana National Bureau and Alexandre N’Djore, Managing Director of Digitech Group.
Scheduled for Wednesday was a presentation on ‘the establishment of an international ECOWAS Brown Card Supervisory Body Framework and Modalities to be adopted’ to be delivered by Dawda Sarge, Chairman of the Gambian National Bureau and a member of the Regulatory Establishment Committee. This was scheduled to be followed by the General Assembly of the scheme, held in camera, which will continue into Thursday, before a gala dinner concludes the event. Friday has been reserved for tourism – an excursion to Dodi Island and Akosombo Lake.
The biggest issue to be addressed by the General Assembly is the establishment of a Supra-National body to oversee the scheme, this being an evolution beyond the current framework of collaboration between the various national bureau, each with equal standing. Another key issue to be addressed is the increased use of digital technology, particularly to facilitate automatic policy cover for people and equipment across borders.
Welcoming participants at the opening ceremony, the Chairman of the Ghana National Bureau, Henry Bukari, explained that at the meetings, delegates will be deliberating upon how the scheme can be positioned to further enhance trade facilitation and free movement of people, goods and services within the sub region. He enthused that “the chosen topics for discussion shall afford us the opportunity to reflect on the structure, governance and operations of the scheme within the broader framework of ECOWAS.”
Daniel Andoh, Ghana’s acting Insurance Commissioner, also applauded the efforts made so far and the consequent outcomes and positive impacts but drew attention to the need to improve commitment to timely claims payment. “We call upon the major underwriting companies to honour their obligations with the same zeal, irrespective of where the claim originates” he appealed. ‘Discrimination has no place in our operation and we must always uphold the tenets of equity and fairness.”
However, he acknowledged that significant progress had been made through the scheme towards the financing of cross border accident claims. He noted that the impending automatic Brown Card issuance promises a more efficient settlement process but also called for proper reinsurance arrangements as “essential to sustaining the momentum and guaranteeing timely settlements.”
The Chairman of the Council of Bureaux revealed that the start of his tenure coincided with the commencement of a five-year strategic plan 2023 to 2027 and asserted that “during this period we have focused on strengthening the partnerships with member states, insurance providers and regulatory bodies.
Indeed, enhanced partnerships is part of the recipe of initiatives proffered by Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, in his keynote address at the official opening ceremony. He applauded the ongoing evolution of the Scheme’s regulatory framework and noted the need for specialization saying: “The complexity and diversity of the insurance landscape necessitate the transformation of the Brown Card scheme into a specialized agency. This shift allows for a localized approach to addressing the unique challenges faced by the scheme including regulatory compliance, claims management, cross border coordination and above all support from the mother institution – the ECOWAS Commission.
Dr Bawumia also advocated for enhanced legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms, the facilitation of knowledge transfer and capacity building and the promotion of technological integration and innovation through digitalization of activities and processes under the scheme.
The five-day event is being held under the theme: Positioning the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme as a specialized/agency of the ECOWAS Commission for effective free movement and trade facilitation.
