6 Insurance firms give package to 1D1F companies

Six insurance companies have come up with an insurance package to support companies operating under the One district, One factory (1D1F) initiative.

Safety Insurance Brokers is to manage the insurance package on behalf of SIC Life, Enterprise Life, Glico Insurance, Vanguard Assurance, Enterprise Insurance and SIC Insurance.

The package includes cover for assets, business interruptions, life and disability insurance.

The Managing Director of SIC Insurance Company Limited, Mr Stephen Kwame Oduro, made this known at a stakeholders engagement on insurance in Accra last Thursday.

It was held on the theme: "Promoting One district, One factory - The Role of Insurance Industry."

Massive construction

Speaking on behalf of the six insurance companies, Mr Oduro said the IDIF programme was going to bring about massive construction, manufacturing and processing works across the country.

He said those industries were subject to more risks and uncertainty than many other industries, since the development of the various projects from inception to completion involved many phases with varied associated risks.

Mr Oduro said the companies would also bring workers with different skills and interests together and involved the use of large and diverse set of equipment.

He said all of the complex requirements needed to be handled with proper coordination to provide a smooth flow of activities to achieve the objectives of the 1D1F programme.

"It is necessary to identify, analyse, mitigate and provide the needed assurances, appropriate and adequate insurance cover for each of the projects and factories under the 1D1F programme.

"Insurance will serve as the means of transferring and managing all associated risks with the projects and share the burden of paying the costs of a particular event, which reduces the likelihood of financial devastation to any project or promoter before or during the construction phase and the entire operational life of the 1D1F projects," he said.

Insurance pool

Mr Oduro said the six companies that created the insurance pool were resolved to work closely with the 1DIF Secretariat and all promoters through their broker, safety insurance brokers to ensure that every single project had the appropriate and adequate insurance cover.

"This is to give all IDIF promoters the needed security and safety for their factories, peace of mind to focus on their core businesses, reduce uncertainty of business losses and importantly ensure business continuation of all projects,” he said.

Risk cover

In her remarks, the National Coordinator of 1D1F, Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu, said every business entrepreneur had to contend with risks.

She said the risks might be specific to a particular business or externally imposed by environmental factors beyond the control of the affected enterprises.

"Whatever it is, your success as entrepreneurs lies in your abilities to take calculated risks to safeguard your investments," she said.

Mrs Ohene-Konadu said the collaboration with the insurance companies would help companies under the 1D1F programme identify, prioritise, assess and offer solutions to contend with whatever risks that confronted their businesses.

As 1D1F promoters, you must be so fortunate that before those risks engulf or swallow your businesses, the expert brains and providers of insurance protection who have gathered here are more than ready to assist you to find solutions to the worries of business risks and to concentrate on pushing their businesses forward. With them as protectors of your businesses, you can go to sleep and be assured that when you wake up, your business will not be pulled down to ashes.

"Possessing adequate insurance covers for various risks can aid your quest to raise facilities for expansion of existing companies or acquisition of fresh assets or even grab new ventures", she said.

1D1F support

Mrs Ohene-Konadu said the government would not put up factories under the 1D1F and indicated that it would only play a facilitating role by providing the necessary infrastructure for the private sector.

"To me, the 1D1F initiative is a simple economic model. Poverty in the districts, and for that matter in the rural setting, is comparatively high. But every district in this country is endowed with resources that could be harnessed and through value addition, create more wealth.

“The private sector should be the key and pivot for the success of the initiative. Government is at the background to facilitate the process.

“Government will not build factories. Individual promoters will build and own the factories. The 1D1F, as a case study, is synonymous with the way insurance companies operate in the country. Majority of the industry players are from the private sector", she said.

The Managing Director of GIHOC Distilleries, Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, who chaired the function, said the 1D1F initiative provided communities, especially those outside the capital, the catalyst for real economic development.