By Elliot WILLIAMS
Ghana Reinsurance Company PLC, the state-owned largest locally owned reinsurance firm operating in the country, has held the 2025 edition of its annual Life Training.
The four-day training programme took place at the Volta Serene Hotel, Ho from Monday June 23 to Thursday, June 26, 2025.and was held on the topic: Annuities Management – Principles and Practice.
The annual life training programme is In line with Ghana Reinsurance Company PLC’s commitment to build the capacity through technical support for its cedants, comprising the insurance and reinsurance brokers that give it business.
This year’s Life Training by Ghana Re aimed to give technical support to over 20 participating life insurance practitioners, actuaries and product designers, drawn from five life insurance companies, a reinsurance company, a reinsurance brokerage, Ghana Re itself and the National Insurance Commission which is the industry regulator. The largest contingent of six participants were sent by SIC Life.
The other life insurers who sent participants were Enterprise Life, Glico Life, Metropolitan Life and Star Life. KEK Reinsurance Brokers also sent participants along with both Ghana Re itself and the NIC.
The topic was selected because annuities is a fairly new class of life insurance in Ghana’s jurisdiction, but one which holds tremendous potential for retirement planning and is a veritable investment tool.
Speaking at the opening of the training programme, the Managing Director of Ghana Re, Seth Aklatsi – in a speech delivered for him by Dr Kweku Appietu Ankrah, the company’s General Manager, Operations – acknowledged that Ghana’s insurance industry faces the major challenge of low insurance penetration rate.
“If we are to change this narrative, the life insurance market offers the best option to do just that” he asserted. “It means life insurers must be innovative, expand into new product lines and explore untapped opportunities. Traditionally, our industry has focused largely on risk and investment – linked life policies. However, annuities present us with a unique opportunity to diversify and respond to an evolving market trend.”
An insurance annuity is a written contract typically between a client and a life insurance company in which the insurance company makes a series of regularly spaced payments to the client in return for a lump sum premium or regular premium payments paid by the client.
While a life insurance policy protects the client’s family’s financial well- being in case he or she passes away, annuities help protect the customer’s own well- being by providing a pension –like stream of income that one can use during one’s retirement.
Aklatsi therefore implored participants at Ghana Re’s 2025 Life Training programme to engage openly and practically on the principles and practices of annuities “in order to explore how to unlock the potential of this product class and gain insights into the regulatory considerations that may influence its growth, while also sharing ideas on how we, as industry players, can contribute to delivering client-centred and sustainable annuity solutions.”
The training itself was conducted by William Stanley Owusu and Isaac Kweku Gyasi, both of them senior professionals with Ghana Re.
William Stanley Owusu has been a member of the Ghana Re Life Department for over 15 years and has managed all aspects of life insurance processes from underwriting and policy administration, through retrocession and claims, to product development.
He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London, and holds an Insurance Diploma from the West African Insurance Institute (WAII) in Banjul, The Gambia where he graduated as the overall 2nd best student.
Isaac Kweku Gyasi is a Chartered Insurer with 10 years hands-on experience in insurance and reinsurance, developing a reputation for excellence in risk assessment, policy administration and client advisory services.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, a Diploma in Insurance from WAII and an Advanced Diploma in Insurance from the Ghana Insurance College.
The training programme took participants through a comprehensive plethora of topics relating to annuities including their definition and nature, their types and classifications, factors determining their suitability and factors that affect annuity payments.
Other topics addressed included the calculation of annuities, underwriting considerations, their reinsurance and their challenges.
