3-Day Insurance Fair underway in Accra - Graphic Business, Insurers Association collaborate
A three-day insurance fair opened in Accra on Wednesday, with stakeholders urging the public to procure insurance policies as part of a positive attitude to the scheme.
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Addressing the opening of the 2024 Graphic Business-Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) Insurance Fair at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Gardens, the First Vice-President of the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), Nashiru Iddrisu, charged Ghanaians to obtain an insurance policy as a lifestyle attitude, adding that it was a sine qua non for their long-lasting survival.
"Only suspicious claims are denied after a thorough investigation. Let’s embrace insurance; it is good," he stated.
Mr Nashiru said insurance claims paid daily by insurance companies were expected to rise to GH¢5 million this year. He said this was a vast increment on the 2022 insurance data that showed that GH¢3 million was paid daily on the average by insurance companies to claimants.
Mr Iddrisu, who is also the Managing Director of Hollard Life Insurance, said this attested to the credibility of insurance agencies, and proved that insurance claims were promptly paid.
"The days of delays in the payment of insurance claims are over," he stated.
Sandbox
The acting Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission, Michael Kofi Andoh, said his outfit had admitted five researchers into a Sandbox programme that would enable them to introduce innovative ways to make insurance accessible to all Ghanaians.
"This new Insurance Act 2021 ( Act 1061) has introduced this innovative insurance licence and innovative intermediary licence to use technology to develop a system that will be an enabler, for instance. People who genuinely don't have money, but need insurance to cover them, must be covered without necessarily paying a premium upfront," he stated.
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Mr Andoh said the Sandbox programme would address various challenges by identifying new and better ways to reach out to people who genuinely needed insurance.
He said this testing environment mechanism, which would also solve the low penetration rate of insurance, would bring on board the majority of workers in the informal sector to the insurance chain.
Graphic pillar of news
The Director, Sales and Marketing, of Graphic Communication Group Ltd. (GCGL), organisers of the event, Franklin Sowa, who spoke on behalf of the Managing Director of GCGL, Ato Afful, said his outfit identified promoting insurance as relevant news to the public.
He said GCGL would continue to be the pace-setter and pillar of news in the country.
"We are a news house eager to contribute meaningfully to the various sectors that drive growth and improve the lives of people in the country," Mr Sowa stated.
He bemoaned the fact that there was just two per cent penetration of insurance in the business market and called for more outreach from stakeholders to target petty traders, market women and artisans.
Insurance month
The three-day fair, which climaxes tomorrow and also climaxes the annual Insurance Month, is on the theme: Promoting Inclusivity and Accessibility.
It aims to create awareness of insurance and its importance to society, and to get the informal sector, which constitutes the majority of Ghanaians, to obtain relevant insurance.