Take Micro-insurance Seriously-Kyiamah (page 29, Dec 30)

THE Commissioner of Insurance, Mrs Nyamikeh Kyiamah, has appealed to members of the Planning Committee for the 32nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Educational Conference of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) to consider micro-insurance in the next international meeting.
That, she said, would help in the provision of insurance for the poor and low income earners who constituted majority of the population in the sub-region in order to improve the very low insurance penetration, which stands at 1.157 per cent, in the sub-region.
The commissioner was speaking at the inauguration of the 14-member Planning Committee to steer the affairs of the AGM and Educational Conference to be held in Accra from March 21 to 24, 2010 on the theme, “The oil discovery in West Africa; its impact on the socio-political and economic development of the sub-region and the vital role of the insurance industry in the management this natural resource”.
She said the West African sub-region needed to make a reinsurance arrangement that would help in retaining what it could and reinsure what it could not at fair rates on the international market.
Mrs Kyiamah implored the planning committee to consider liaising with the West Africa Insurance Supervisors (WAIS) (the association of the sub-region’s insurance regulators) to ensure a more co-ordinated approach to implement decisions and resolutions that would be passed at the end of the international conference.
She said since the establishment of WAICA in Accra in 1973, Ghana had hosted majority of the AGMs. She, therefore, encouraged the planning committee to explore ways to get WAIS involved in discussions on integration for Ghana not to miss out on the expected benefits.
The Vice-Chairman of the planning committee, Mr George Otoo, accepted the responsibility of the committee on behalf of his colleges, fully aware of the task ahead.
He appealed to the members of the committee to be mindful of the work at hand and consider it as a collective responsibility and not an individual one.
He reminded his colleagues that the time frame was short and advised all to attend committee meetings to ensure the success of the programme.
Other members of the committee are Mr Larry Jaime, Mr William Coker, Mr George Robertson, Mrs Mary Ohene-Adu, Mr William Pyne, Mr Gabriel Glover, Nii Otinkorang Ankrah, Mr Kwame Gazo Agbenyadzie, Mr Isaac Buabeng, Mr Atsu Menyawovor and Mr Desmond Brown, with Mr William Agbenyegah as Chairman.