Protect insurance investment in economic restructuring - Government urged

Insurance Brokers in Ghana have called on government to introduce measures in the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to protect people’s investment in the insurance sector.

The call comes as Ghana prepares to implement a homegrown economic policy under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan support programme to restore macroeconomic confidence and lessen the current hardship facing Ghanaians.

Data provided by the National Insurance Commission (NIC) shows that the insurance sector, which at the end of 2020 had an asset of GHS8 billion and a premium of GHS4.2bn, contributed two per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Mr Shaibu Ali, the President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), who underscored the contribution of the insurance sector to economic growth and the support it gave to people in times of disasters, asked the Government to make sure that any restructuring did not affect the sector.

He said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at a media soirée, which was to deepen the relationship between IBAG and the media fraternity and formed part of activities for this year’s Broker Awareness Month.

Mr Ali said: “We appreciate that there’s a problem and that problem must be fixed heads on, but our investments must be protected by the Government.”

He noted IBAG had started educating students in various Senior High Schools across the country to clarify the myth about insurance and said: “We need to demystify insurance, and we believe we can do this by getting closer to the younger ones still in school”.

Mr Stephen Kwarteng Yeboah, the Vice President of IBAG, who emphasised the need to protect the investment in the insurance sector asked the Government to exclude the sector in any restructuring exercise.

“Because we cannot pay for the cost of borrowing, if there is any restructuring, the insurance sector should be isolated, otherwise it’s going to be a disaster for the nation,” Mr Yeboah said.

He added that: “When it comes to the insurance, it is very delicate and the day that people lose hope in the insurance company we are dead, and because we’re already having problems with trust in the public, insurance is our last hope when everything is gone.”

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured that talks with the IMF would not lead to any investor losing money through a reduction in the face value of government bonds (haircut).