NIC to strengthen insurance education with launch of Insurance Fair
The National Insurance Commission (NIC) in partnership with the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) and supported by Graphic Communications, have launched the maiden edition of Insurance Fair.
The Insurance Fair, which is expected to be annual event where insurance companies get the opportunity to showcase insurance products or policies to the public, is in furtherance to the industry’s celebration of “Insurance Awareness Month.”
Speaking at the launch of the Insurance Fair, Commissioner of Insurance, Dr Justice Ofori, encouraged the Ghanaian populace to sign onto insurance policies provided by insurance firms to get protection against unforeseen and unfortunate incidents.
Adding that, the public should take advantage of the Fair to interact with insurance companies to get tailored insurance products that suit their needs.
Also speaking at the launch was the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Ato Afful, who remarked that Graphic Communications are happy to support the NIC, GIA and all insurance firms in the country to educate the general public on the relevance of insurance and ultimately engender insurance uptake among the public.
Meanwhile, the former President of the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), Emmanuel Baba Mahama, delivering a public lecture at the launch of the Insurance Fair, tasked insurance firms in the country to change the prevalent “reverse insurance culture” of Ghanaians.
The “reverse insurance culture”, Mr Baba Mahama noted, is common among Ghanaians in both rural communities and urban centres.
The reverse insurance culture, he explained, exists in the form of Ghanaians receiving some monetary support or having something to fall back on to finance or mitigate risks or disasters when they occur.
“Reverse insurance is common among rural communities and urban centres in Ghana. It has been the way of life of Ghanaians for centuries.
“In the Ghanaian society, families or individuals usually get monetary support to finance expenses of funerals in the form of contributions to the bereaved family or individuals.
“The difference here is that, with modern insurance, the said family or individual has to first pay premiums to access the needed funds to finance the funeral when it is due. But with reverse insurance, they quickly get the funds to finance the funeral when the time is due or even after the funeral through contributions made to them,” he remarked.
Making the call on insurance firms in the country, the former President of the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), noted insurance firms have to change the “reverse insurance culture” to be able to engender the patronage of insurance products among the Ghanaian populace.
According to him, the inability of insurance companies to change the said “reverse insurance culture” of Ghanaians will result in the continuation of low insurance penetration rate in the country.
