Government to increase financial access to adults

Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mrs. Abena Osei-Asare, has revealed that government, in collaboration with development partners, is developing a national Financial Inclusion Strategy aimed at increasing access to formal financial services for adult population from the current 58% to 75% by 2023.

She said giving the diverse nature of financial services; the strategy will focus on highly excluded groups, including rural residents, women youth and the poorest quartile of the population.

The minister said this at the 4th National Life Insurance Conference held in Accra yesterday.

According to the minister, the financial inclusion strategy will serve as the driver to the development of an ecosystem of financial service providers and the use of technology- driven channel that will serve consumers better.

Service delivery, according to the minister, remained a critical challenge in the insurance industry, and she was hopeful that customer service and claims management were important issues to be discussed at the conference.

“I must commend the National Insurance Commission for the numerous interventions implemented to sanitise the insurance sector. The New Risk Solvency framework requires that insurance and reinsurance companies maintain a minimum capital of Gh15.00 and GHS40.00 million cedis respectively,” she said.

“It is my desire to see this Bill passed into law soon to deepen the regulations and supervision of the insurance industry,” she added.

The minister noted that insurance continues to play a pivotal role in the development agenda of the country worldwide.

She indicated that it serves as a source of refuge in times of disaster and a tool for wealth creation for financial growth of the citizens; adding that as a financial service, the importance of insurance was intangible.

The essence of good governance, she explained, is to provide the enabling environment for the private sector to operate effectively and sufficiently for the common good of the nation.

She said government was willing to support this important sector to make insurance a critical part of national development.