Insurance

While insurance penetration is still modest by emerging market standards, headline indicators are improving significantly. Over the past five years, revenue from insurance premiums has averaged 32% growth, with the life segment seeing 38.1% expansion over this same period. Microinsurance is expected to be a major growth driver given the cost-sensitivity of policies. As of 2010, between 160,000 and 250,000 people in the country had a microinsurance policy. Improved social and living conditions point to rising demand for insurance services in Ghana. Indeed, six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies over the past decade were in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana. Staff training, a concentrated market and a lack of capacity continue to be constraints, but recent reforms to boost capitalisation, encourage consolidation and improve awareness are set to help pave the way for continued increases in premiums. This chapter contains an interview with Lydia Lariba Bawa, Commissioner, National Insurance Commission.