By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Oct. 31, GNA – Madam Esther Armah, Head of Reinsurance and AML at the National Insurance Commission, commended the Management of Sanlam Allianz General Insurance for the introduction of an insurance to support Small Medium Enterprises.
The Business Guard SMS Insurance offers comprehensive cover for assets, money, premises, employee dishonesty and group life insurance within limits.
Madam Armah was speaking at the launch of the Business Guard by the Sanlam Allianz General Insurance and the Olea M &G Insurance Brokers in Accra.
She said the insurance sector provided a form of security that underpinned business confidence and growth.
She said it also enabled businesses regardless of size, nature and complexity to thrive by helping to mitigate risks, encourage investment and support economic stability.
The Head of Reinsurance said SMEs made up a substantial portion of the Ghanaian economy, hence, making insurance easily accessible would make a big difference in their operation, knowing that any uncertainties would be effectively managed.
She said the launch of the Business Guard was a timely response to an exceptional need, because it provided a focused protection, value and accessibility to SMEs across the country.
“It also affirms the insurance industry’s commitment to empower Ghanaian businesses with tailored-made solutions, in order to sustain growth and resilience,” she added.
She said insurance penetration continued to be a thorny issue for stakeholders in Ghana as it continued to hover below two per cent but on the flip side, it provided an opportunity for stakeholders to deepen education on the benefits of insurance to the public as well as broaden access, especially among SMEs.
She said as regulator, the Commission was committed to supporting initiatives that address market needs in meaningful ways and the goal was to create an enabling environment for products like the Business Guard to thrive, encourage healthy competition and innovation, while protecting consumers.
Madam Armah said the partnership between Sanlam Allianz General Insurance and Ole M&G would not only advance financial inclusion but also deepen the value of insurance for Ghanaians businesses.
Mabel Nana Nyarkoa Porbley, the MD/CEO of Sanlam General Insurance Ghana, said the product was designed along qualities such as convenience and suitability critical for small businesses that needed efficient solutions to keep their operations secure.
She said the goal of the company was to ensure the building of generational businesses that were secure, confident and prosperous.
She said the product was to help sustain businesses, protect capital, families and build livelihoods to be able to keep the businesses running.
She said once businesses had insurance, their business should not go down because of mishaps and other risk factors.
Mr Stephen Kwarteng Yeboah, the MD of Olea M&G said it was to ensure that a lot of the SMEs were insured to enable them to continue to support the Ghanaian economy.
He said research had shown that 60 per cent of new SMEs businesses died before attaining the sixth year of its establishment, because most of them do not have security.
He said these SMEs did not buy life policies, so when the business owner died, monies were used for the funeral and that was all.
“The product has been crafted to empower and protect Ghana’s SMEs,” he added.
GNA