GIA advised to accept co-insurance, re-insurance

Some key players in Ghana’s insurance industry have warned the Ghana Insurance Association (GIA) over its position to ignore the accepted practices of co-insurance and reinsurance through which risk is redistributed among several insurers and reinsurers.

The players have also called on the GIA to encourage the afore-stated mechanisms as a means of sharing in any risks available on the market among stakeholders, including government businesses.

“This will promote the growth of the industry. It is common knowledge that most insurers retain very small portions of their risk and reinsure, and the rest outside the country without exhausting local capacity, which promotes capital flight. This behavior defeats the objective of section 39 of the Insurance Act 2006.

In a statement issued recently, the SIC Group of Companies, noted that the ultimate beneficiary of the recent directive of Government is the larger Ghanaian populace.

“SIC Insurance Company has over 14,000 shareholders through the Ghana Stock Exchange. Majority of them are Ghanaians of all walks of life. Besides Enterprise Insurance Company, which is listed on the stock exchange which other insurer is listed or has immediate plans to do so?

“The shareholding of majority of these insurance companies is rather limited to a few individuals of familial ties or otherwise. It is therefore the status quo that will benefit a few individuals not the directive. It also important to note how many of the hardworking employees of these companies own shares. So GIA cannot be said to be doing the bidding for their employees in this light. They should walk the talk if they really want to be the private sector that is the engine of growth.

Additionally, the SIC Group said the industry could be broadly categorized into three namely insureds, intermediaries and insurers with the insureds comprising individuals, organizations and institutions.

“The Insurance Act 2006 does not restrict or any ways prescribe to insureds as to the choice of insurers for any reason. Government, in the capacity of MDAs, has the same right as every other insured to choose any licensed insurer in Ghana for whatever reason. It is illegal therefore for GIA to try to bully government in the name of private sector growth.