Insurance companies urged to take advantage of AI

Director of Financial Sector Division of the Ministry of Finance, Sampson Akligoh has tasked Insurance companies in the West African sub-Region to make good use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make insurance attractive to people.

Speaking on behalf of the Sector Minister at the opening ceremony of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) Education Conference in Accra, Mr Akligoh emphasized the importance of aligning regulations with emerging technologies, particularly the rapid evolution of AI, which is globally revolutionising the insurance industry.

He said insurance plays a critical role in reducing risk for lenders by providing financial protection against borrower default. 

He also pointed out that, many insurance companies do not focus on the credit market, despite its importance to their operations.

Mr Akligoh therefore called for efforts to enhance the role of insurance in local and national economies in the coming decade.

Climate change 

On his part, the Commissioner of Insurance (ag.), Michael Kofi Andoh stressed the need to take seriously issues regarding climate change which is affecting insurance operations and sustainability in the insurance industry across the sub regions.

He said climate change was another global issue that deserves a collective attention of WAICA.

Mr Andoh bemoaned the situation where the low insurance penetration in the sub-Region is affecting the perception of the general public that insurance may not be doing well in spite of rapid growth in the past decade or so.

He admonished practitioners to adopt a more collective approach to address this concern.

The WAICA Education Conference brought personalities together from especially Anglophone West African sub-Regionwhich are Ghana, Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The theme for the conference which was thoroughly discussed and presented was "Artificial intelligence and the Future of Insurance in the Sub Region" expertly delivered by Mr NiyiOyifade, Sector Head, Heirs Insurance Group, Nigeria.

The second paper Deployment of AI across Insurance Value Chain was delivered by Mr Ebo Richardson, a non-Executive Director of Innovare, Accra Digital Centre.

The third insightful paper was on the thematic area, Shaping the Industry’s Future – AI – The way to Go was presented by MrDavid Ofori Atta, Head of I.T at KEK Insurance Brokers.

A discussion session following these presentations was chaired by Dr Abiba Zakariah, a seasoned Insurance Consultant and a former Managing Director of Ghana Reinsurance PLC as well as Chief Operations Officer of WAICA Re. 

The discussants were Mr Rotimi Fashola, Chairman of the West Africa Insurance Institute (WAII) in the Gambia and Mr Makaireh Badjan, Managing Director of Royal Insurance Gambia Limited. 

The 3-day conference offered participants a unique opportunity to lace up their boots to take the first steps at being ahead of AI itself by way of marketing of insurance products, claims payment and fraud detection using AI.

Mr Davis Iyasere, Secretary-General of WAICA expressed appreciation to all sponsors, organisers, regulators and other stakeholders who made the Conference worth attending.

Plaques were presented to all paper presenters, discussants and  the Chairperson.

The conference had W-Safe Reinsurance Company and WAICA Re as the headline sponsors whereas GN Re, Ghana Re, FBS Re and Continental Re were in the category of gold sponsors.