Insuring agriculture in Ghana is very risky - Mabel Porbley

The Managing Director of NSIA Insurance, Mabel Nana Nyarkoa Porbley, has revealed that the hazy nature of the agriculture sector has made it unattractive for insurance entities to partner.

According to her, the sector is not well organized and measures are not in place to monitor outputs in the country, so it makes it murky for them as an Insurance company to look at it.

Emphasizing on what is actually not right with the sector, she said the Meteorological Service Department is not well resourced to even forecast rains to ascertain whether there will be a bumper harvest or not.Mabel Nana Nyarkoa Porbley

“It is very difficult to monitor, it’s very difficult with even meteorological services and matching that to crop yields” she said.

This, she described as a hazy situation, which makes the agricultural sector high risk and unattractive because it is not structured. The young MD of NSIA Insurance said this in an interview with The Chronicle at Geneva at the Africa CEO Forum.

She observed that challenges in the agricultural sector are enormous, “from my point of view there are a lot of challenges in the way agriculture is implemented in our part of the world.”

Nonetheless, she said agriculture is something that NSIA has looked at pretty closely to go into it, adding that already there is an agriculture pool in which a lot of the insurance companies are already on board.

Speaking on how to get people to understand the importance of insurance, she said in Ghana insurance is barely bought. “I don’t think people have understood the value of Insurance” she lamented.

She said people must be educated and conscientized on the need for insurance. “Trust me there are so many people whose houses are not insured. Not because they do not want to but they do not understand the need.”

The MD said, currently NSIA Insurance has about three percent of the market shares because of competition especially the general insurance which has some large competitors but was optimistic of rapid growth in the next few years.

Speaking on how an ordinary Ghanaian will benefit from NSIA Insurance, she said the company is about putting out very innovative products that go to the core of the society.

Urges women to work hard

Mrs. Porbley advised young women to empower and pushed themselves to be able to deliver on the job so that when an opportunity comes they can fit the role.

When one is given a smaller opportunity, you have to be successful in order to merit a bigger one. She said “If you don’t deliver and when the opportunity comes you think you will be considered just because you are a woman, then you are making a mistake, so make sure you are well equipped, you have the skills and can deliver.”

According to her, women should not look down upon themselves but rather be equipped with skills to match up with their male counterparts on the job.

Again she reechoed the need in asking questions when need be, because it is only in asking that one can find answers. “It is only in questioning that you get better, it is only in questioning that you stick out from the ordinary, if you don’t question you are just like anybody,” She noted.

When asked about her advice to young women she said, “I honestly don’t see why you get intimidated by men, trust me, I will tell you something, we all went into school, some of you too the same good schools, we are all looking for a job, we all found the job, why do you feel intimidated?”