Insurance Chief Councels Board Members

Lydia Lariba Bawa (centre) with participants

Commissioner of Insurance of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Lydia Lariba Bawa, has urged board of directors of insurance companies to equip themselves with the requisite knowledge and skills that will guide them in their directorship to facilitate growth of their respective companies.

She also challenged them to acquire enough understanding of the new policies and interventions that are aimed at improving and growing the insurance sector.

Ms Bawa made the call at a seminar organised by the NIC for board of directors of insurance companies in the country to update them on current happenings in the sector in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The seminar was held in partnership with the Ghana Insurance College, and was attended by 70 boards of directors from the life and non-life companies. It was facilitated by insurance experts, Messrs Lawrie Savage and Bruce Thompson of the Toronto Centre Global Leadership in Finances Supervision.

She observed that the insurance industry has come a long way due to the separation of life from non-life businesses, and this has resulted in significant growth over the past few years.

The commissioner added that the 2014 microinsurance landscape survey shows that about 7.5 million Ghanaians are currently covered by this sub-sector, but in spite of those achievements, the industry faces serious challenges that can inhibit growth and efficiency.

'As directors, you will be responsible for approving strategies and policies to guide management team in their day-to-day operations, and that is the essence of this programme. I look forward to seeing positive changes in the governance of insurance companies,' she said.

Ms Bawa, however, said prospects of the insurance industry were blighted by weak governance and internal controls, and it was for that reason the NIC had introduced the risk-based supervisory framework

That, she said, would assist the commission to find effective and sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the sector, optimise the use of regulatory resources, as well as ensure a safety and stable industry.

Last year, the regulator issued the risk-based solvency framework which required insurance companies to meet a minimum capital requirement by January 2016.

The commissioner appealed to board chairmen of affected companies to take the matter seriously and to take concrete steps to ensure that their companies are adequately capitalised by the end of the year.