GN Life Assurance starts operations
GN Life Assurance Company Limited, a subsidiary of the GN Group, has officially launched its operations in Accra with a pledge to contribute significantly to the growth of life insurance in the country.
According to the President and Chairman of Group Ndoum, Dr Papa Kwesi Ndoum, the launch of the life assurance company was a continuation of its national development journey with the aim of transforming lives in a practical way and making citizens prosperous.
“It is a journey held in the belief that life must be lived with hope and that the inevitable death must not bring misery and desperation to those we leave behind,” he said.
Therefore, Dr Ndoum said, GN Life would ensure widespread protection against such difficulties by protecting the status quo and be part of the change that people needed to see.
Social protection
Additionally, he said, the company was in existence to democratise social protection and give hope to many by taking life insurance to the doorstep of every Ghanaian, saying, “We will knock on every door and make it feasible for every Ghanaian to acquire this social and economic protection.”
He, therefore, urged the directors and management of GN Life to steer the affairs of the company successfully in order to be able to deliver long-term funds that could be used to invest in Ghanaian enterprises and help create thousands of jobs.
“This company, GN Life, must work with enthusiasm, discipline and innovation. GN Life must become a popularly accepted great and strong life protection and prosperity facilitator,” he said.
Insurance market
Launching GN Life, the Commissioner of Insurance, Madam Lydia Lariba Bawa, said at present, the insurance industry was made up of 23 life and non-life and three reinsurance companies.
She indicated that as of the end of 2015, the total gross premiums of these insurance companies was about GH¢1.6 billion which was shared 45 per cent and 55 per cent between the life and non-life sectors respectively, a major improvement over the previous years.
However, she said the contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) was still a little above one per cent as compared to 3.1 per cent for Kenya and 3.7 per cent for Mauritius and called for a concerted effort to develop the market.
Implement reforms
Madam Bawa said the National Insurance Commission (NIC) had taken a number of steps to develop the market which included the appointment of an industry committee to make recommendations on compulsory insurance to help grow the penetration level as well as provide reliable means of compensation for the unfortunate ones who suffered sickness, disability, bodily injury, death or financial loss.
She urged GN Life and the entire insurance industry not to see those reforms as regulatory requirements that must be complied with, but to seek to understand how the effective implementation of the reforms could contribute to their profitability and financial soundness.
Contribute to the industry
The Chief Executive Officer of GN Life, Mr Fiifi Simpson, said the company had, since it began operations in July 2015, recruited and trained 208 financial advisors who were located in GN Bank’s branches selling GN Life products to clients of the bank.
“It is our belief that GN Life is here to contribute to the growth of life assurance in Ghana and eventually be the dominant player in the market,” he said.