Insurance

Insurance companies urged to increase subscriber base

Aaron Anafure (2nd left) with Ms Lydia Bawa (middle) at the get-together

CHARLES ANDOH

The Commissioner of Insurance has urged insurance companies to put pragmatic measures in place to increase their subscriber base. Ms Lydia Lariba Bawa also urged them to do more to be able to reach out to a lot of people in the informal sectors of the economy.
As of September 2016, the insurance penetration rate in the country was less than two per cent, with more than 88.8 per cent of Ghanaians, representing about 23 million people, being uninsured.

That, in the view of the commissioner, was uninspiring, adding that it was the responsibility of insurance companies, particularly the state-owned ones, to correct that anomaly.

Ms Bawa who was speaking at the end-of-year staff get-together of the State Insurance Company (SIC) Life, said the time had come for that to change, “and that can only happen if you all make conscious efforts to do that.”

The evening saw a lot of staff members of the company awarded for the roles they played in the company’s achievements in 2016.

Ms Bawa noted that even though product innovation and distribution channels had improved significantly, “We are still largely unable to reach out to the informal sector.”

NIC’s intervention

As the industry regulator, Ms Bawa said the National Insurance Commission (NIC) had taken a number of steps to help the industry increase and sustain the penetration rate in the country.

She said the commission had embarked on a vigorous consumer education programme to help improve the insurance penetration rate in the country, “and this is what you can all do to help resolve the situation.”

Ms Bawa also commended the management of SIC Life for the prudent measures it had adopted to increase the company’s profit margin.

SIC Life financials

The Chief Executive Officer of SIC Life, Mr Aaron Issa Anafure, said the company increased its financials by the end of the third quarter of 2016.

“As of the end of the third quarter of 2016, the company had recorded a profit before tax of over GH¢16 million,” he stated.

Due to the hard work and efforts of the staff, Mr Anafure announced that management had decided to increase the salaries of employees beginning from January 1, 2017.

Awards

Some individuals and branches of the company that distinguished themselves were awarded for their contributions to the growth of the company during the year under review.

The Academic Excellence Award was picked up by Mr Cletus Asoogo, while Mr Bernard Asare picked the Fraud Prevention and Detection award.

The Best Performing Office (company with the highest number of businesses) award went to the Wa office, with the Best Producing Office going to the Spintex branch.

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