45TH AIO AGM LAUNCHED IN ACCRA

The 45th Conference and Annual General Assembly of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO),has been held in Accra under the theme “Innovation, Risk and Future Insurance in the Emerging Markets.”

The Tenet of the AIO is inter-African cooperation geared at developing a healthy and strong insurance industry in Africa.

The conference and Annual General Assembly (AGM) is uniquely designed with opportunities to strengthen further the bond of cooperation.

The President of the AIO, Alhaj Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega delivering his key note address said the annual conference was an opportunity for insurance companies in the region to come together to evaluate the performance of their businesses and to make resolutions that are intended to address the sour situations in which they find themselves.

Though the insurance coverage in Africa is very low, Alhaj Lubega says, there are vast opportunities to be explored.

He said, “we have to unite and reflect on innovations in risk management if we are to see the future that we desire…it is a call for us to reengineer our strategies and processes to protect the companies so that they are strong and able to continue being available for all those who count on them.”

He therefore called on industry players to embark on actions that would give shareholders, clients and regulators the desired level of comfort.

President of the Ghana Insurance Association and the Chairperson for the Local Organising Committee of the AIO, Madam Aretha Duku also said the keys to unlocking great potentials in the insurance industry “lies not only in disruptive innovation and prudent risk management but also in unfettered inter-African Cooperation.

The AIO has a membership comprised of supervisory authorities, insurance and reinsurance companies and brokers, national and regional insurance associations.

Currently, the association counts over 360 members with 16 of them from nine overseas countries.

The Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo also advocated on the need for ECOWAS countries to collaborate in areas of insurance in order to exhaust their unending capacities.

According to him, working individually as nations may allow them to cover only 3.5 per cent of the opportunities available to them which doesn’t quite augur well for the development of a nation.

Speaking to journalists at the 45th Conference of the AIO, Mr Osafo-Maafo said, collaboration would not only increase their capacity but it would also help member nations retain their premium payments.

“Our capacity would be bigger and we can take up a bigger risk and that would retain our premium payment within the region otherwise we would have to sublet this to those outside and those outside are ready to take the business from us. So we should do lots collaborations so that we retain a lot of businesses within the region,” he stressed.

According him, every developing nation must seek ways to create both medium and long term sources of funds; this he said could come from insurance businesses.