Hope for Marine Insurance in Ghana

The marine industry has been identified as abysmally-performing in terms of penetration into the entire insurance sector in the country. This, experts say, is the result of lack of knowledge about marine business and its correlation with marine insurance.

The President of the Ghana Insurers Association, Aretha Duku, revealed this at a one-week marine training and marine insurance workshop at Ada. The week-long workshop is being organized by the National Commission on Marine, in collaboration with GIZ, a German organization for industry players.

Speaking at the program, Aretha Duku lamented that mostly, only motor insurance comes to mind anytime insurance issues come up for discussion because majority of the populace have little or no knowledge of marine insurance.

She noted that in other jurisdictions there is collaboration between marine business and marine itself, in terms of importations; but the situation is the reverse in Ghana.

Buttressing her point with figures, Duku said in 2007, total import into Ghana was $8 billion with an expected premium of some $16.12 million, but only $9.95 million was realized.

She hinted that the country recorded a decline in marine insurance even though there was an increase in import in that year.

The commissioner of insurance, Justice Ofori, on his part, attributed the development partly to the Ghana Revenue Authority’s one percent penalty slapped on players in the industry.

He was, however, optimistic of a timely approval of the new insurance bill, which, he said, was being worked on to ensure that all goods imported purchased insurance cover.

Justice Ofori urged insurers to work out moderate packages for small scale industries, especially local fishermen, in other to enable them easily access it.

Contributing, Mr. Jocken Ramcke, head of the Financial System Development of GIZ, observed that over regulation had been the bane to boosting the insurance sector in some jurisdictions.

The workshop is expected to change the negative trend in the marine industry in Ghana.

By: Daniel Akpaloo Nyorngmor