The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GN Life insurance, Mr Andrew Fiifi Simpson, has urged Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) not to shy away from taking up insurance policies. Instead, he advised them to sign onto such policies to cushion their businesses against eventualities.
According to him, many SMEs in the country do not have insurance policies because of the notion that insurance companies only paid out claims when there was an eventuality and thereby tend to enjoy the fruits of their labour more than the business owners.
In an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on the sidelines of the African Partner Pool (APP) Business Forum in Accra, he said, the SMEs market was much bigger than the non SME market and, therefore, there was the need for them to wholly embrace insurance policies.
“What this tells us is that there is a need for the insurance industry to look at ways of supporting the SMEs. What this means is that the insurance industry should ensure that they look at the risk SMEs are exposed to and device products to fit,” he said.
The forum was to advise the SMEs of the importance of insurance and to direct them as to how to go about it in ensuring that their businesses are secured.
He said the risks large businesses were exposed to was not different from what the SMEs face and noted that insurance companies needed to come up with tailor-made products to suit their needs.
“We must find ways and means of ensuring that the businesses understand the various risks they are actually exposed to; Then they can be adviced to ensure that they receive the right cover for those risks,” he said.
He stressed the need for the education on the need to take up insurance to be extended to the masses.
“SMEs are not different from the general public so what we seek to do is to continue to educate the public on that regard but SMEs would be a special focus,” he said.
The African Partner Pool is at the core of IIAs work in Ghana as it assists local suppliers promote their businesses.
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