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The Minister for Finance has inaugurated the newly constituted board of directors of the insurance regulator, National Insurance Commission (NIC).
Speaking at an inauguration ceremony in Accra on 30 November 2021, the minister Mr Ken Ofori-Atta charged members of the board to diligently steer the affairs of the insurance industry and make it more efficient. He said there was a huge untapped market in the informal sector and the board must initiate strategies for the industry to harness the market and help deepen insurance penetration in the country.
Referring to the ongoing recapitalisation exercise in the insurance sector, he urged insurance entities to meet the new minimum capital requirements.
The new seven-member board is chaired by Ms Abenaa Kessewaa Brown with Dr Justice Yaw Ofori as Commissioner of Insurance.
Meanwhile, data from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) show that Ghana’s insurance industry witnessed an increase in its total capital base to GHS2.91bn ($472m) at the end of December 2020, from GHS2.53bn at the end of December 2019. The BoG’s Financial Stability Review for 2020 said the insurance industry last year grew by 15% over the previous year.
The NIC was established by the new Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061). Its object is to ensure effective administration, supervision, regulation, monitoring, and control of the business of insurance, to protect insurance policyholders and the insurance industry. The NIC, among other things, is committed to ensuring that insurance companies operating in the Ghanaian market are financially sound and honour their obligations to policyholders.
The new Insurance Act 2021, assented to by Ghana’s President on 5 January 2021, replaces the previous Insurance Act of 2006 (Act 724) to bring the regulation of the insurance industry into conformity with the international framework and supervisory standards.
The new Act aims at strengthening corporate governance, deepening the insurance penetration, and increasing access to insurance for the population. It affirms the position of the NIC as the regulator of insurance business and practice in Ghana.
