Insurance industry not there yet... Says Commissioner

Professor Naana Opoku, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, presenting certificate to a graduand

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday May 5, 2010
The Commissioner of Insurance, Nyamikeh Kyiamah has admitted that despite the resurgence in the insurance industry, the sector still faces “critical challenges.”

“Despite competition in the insurance industry, penetration is still low. Majority of the businesses are still in the informal sector and this is a huge challenge for us as players in this industry,” she added.

Mrs. Kyiamah was speaking at the 3rd graduation of the Ghana Insurance College (GIC) in Accra on Friday.

The college was founded in 2006 by the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), Ghana Insurance Brokers Association (GIBA) and the Insurance Institute of Ghana (IIG) to train, develop and mentor insurance professionals to excel in the practice of the profession.

In all, over 200 students graduated with Diploma in Applied Insurance Studies.
Mrs. Kyiamah said even though the agriculture sector remains the backbone of the economy, it continues to receive little attention and support from the insurance industry.

“All these developments are challenges that confront the industry and we need to face it with the view of developing appropriate programmes for the agric sector,” she observed.

She noted that for the insurance industry to grow and actively support the country’s economy there was the need for quality human resource, adding that “the college is helping to build the capacity of those in the industry.”

The Director of the college, Justice Ofori said they were committed to providing the cutting edge that was needed to develop Ghana and the entire continent.

“We have revitalized our programmes to meet the challenges confronting the insurance industry,” he indicated.

Mr. Ofori noted that since the inception of the college about 64 short courses had been organized for 832 students, saying we would be starting programmes in Kumasi for those in the northern sector.”

The NIC Board Chairman, Frederick Quaye Nortey disclosed that the insurance industry was positioning itself to meet the challenges that the emerging oil and gas industry would bring.

He said they had adopted measures to make the college a center of excellence.

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