98% of Insurers in Ghana meet new minimum capital requirement – NIC

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) says nearly one hundred per cent of insurance companies in the country have met the minimum capital requirement under the new license arrangement.

In June 2019, the Commission announced an increment in the minimum assets required by life and non-life insurance companies in the country from GH¢15 million to GH¢50 million.

The new adjustment, according to the NIC, was part of measures aimed at building a robust insurance industry.

Companies in the insurance industry were required to complete the renewed minimum capital requirements within two years following the regulator’s announcement in 2019.

But the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a six-month deadline extension.

Capital requirement for reinsurance companies was inched up from GH₵40 million to GH₵125 million, while that of Insurance brokers increased from GH₵300,000 to GH₵500,000 with reinsurance brokers at GH₵1 million.

Head of Marketing and External Relations at the National Insurance Commission, Moses Ackah-Jayne, says the remaining insurers are undertaking processes to meet the requirements.

“All the companies that are currently under our license have met the requirements. There are a few that are still discussing a few other details,” he said.

Mr Ackah-Jayne spoke at the Micro and Small Business Clinics (MSBC) for artisan leadership, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and traders in Kumasi.

The four-day sensitization program is aimed at creating awareness and providing comprehensive information on insurance policies to actors in the informal sector.

Many actors in the informal sector shy away from investing in insurance benefits attributing their abhorrence to the growing influx of quack insurers in the country.

The Commission is assuring insurance policyholders of the retrieval of invested funds.

“If any policyholder has issues with an insurance company, they must report to the Commission. The Commission would normally arbitrate and look into the matter and resolve it. In cases where the insurance company is obliged to settle the individual, we will see to it that they do so. If there are any technical issues especially involving motor accidents, we have an alternative for the insurance company to honour the policyholder,” he said.

Insurance penetration in Ghana as of 2022 hovered below two per cent although an increment over the last decade.

The Commission will in the coming years target penetration into the six newly created regions following its recent presence in only ten of the sixteen administrative regions.

A member of the research team at the Commission, Kyeame Gansah, explained some practical sessions designed for easy grasp by the participants to expand awareness.

“The game is designed to depict real-life situations: how business capital can be consumed by the various risks such as accidents, floods, and injuries. We made them know how insurance can help mitigate these risks faced by the traders,” he said.

Artisans including hairdressers, carpenters, leather and footwear producers from various market centres in the Kumasi metropolis participated in the exercise.