Most insurance firms have met GHS 50 million minimum capital requirement – NIC
Most insurance firms in the country, according to the Commissioner of Insurance, Dr. Justice Ofori, have been able to meet the GHS 50 million capital recapitalization requirement.
Speaking at the 2021 Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana Educational Conference and Annual General Meeting, Dr. Justice Ofori, noted the requirement has been met by most insurance companies ahead of the 31st December, 2021 deadline and is hopeful the remaining insurance companies will be able to recapitalise by the end of this month.
“So far, they [insurers] are doing well, most of them have already capitalised beyond the GHS 50 million. We understand some are also trying to catch up…you know the Ghanaian always want to wait till the last minute. I know before the end of the month we will see some miracles.”
The NIC announced the new capital requirement in 2019 and extended the deadline to the 31st of December this year.
Both life and non-life insurers are expected to increase their capital from GHS 15 million to GHS 50 million.
Addressing the issue of a potential merger between insurance firms, Dr. Ofori said it’s too early to forecast.
“There is one acquisition that has already taken place already. I haven’t seen any mergers yet, but as I said it’s not yet time, so anything can happen.
“I can’t tell whether all firms can recapitalise until we passed the 31st December, 2021. This is because someone [insurer] has the money but is waiting; once there is a deadline you can’t actually do anything”, he said.
Regarding plans for policy holders, Dr. Ofori said “we have plans in place to ensure that if companies fail to recapitalize, their policy holders will be taken care of. The new act, Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061) takes care of that.”
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Insurance companies given up to December 2021 to meet Ghs 50m minimum capital requirement
Insurance companies in the country have to the end of this year to meet the Ghs 50 million minimum capital requirement set by the National Insurance Commission (NIC).
This goes contrary to the announced 2022 deadline by the NIC for insurance firms to meet the minimum capital requirement.
Making the assertion in a media interaction, Commissioner of the NIC, Dr Justice Ofori, averred insurance firms that are unable to raise the set minimum capital requirement will cease their operations.
He however, stated that most insurance firms in the country are working very hard towards attaining the set capital requirement, stating that most of the firms have presented to the NIC their work plan on achieving the capital requirement.
“We are still encouraging the insurance firms to meet the minimum capital requirement by the end of this year. Most of the insurance companies have brought their work plan on how they are going to achieve the Ghs 50 million. So it’s in progress and by the end of the third quarter we will have a clear picture of those who can meet it and those who can’t. But most of the firms are doing all they can to meet the requirement,” he intimated.
Previously, insurance companies were to recapitalise by June 30, 2021. But this was later postponed to early 2022, the NIC per the Commissioner’s statements seem to have revised the deadline to December 2021.
