Founder of Serene Insurance unveiling the brand together with other dignitaries.
Serene Insurance Company Limited has officially been inaugurated in Tema in the Greater Accra Region to provide various insurance products to the public.
A member of the First Sky Group, Serene Insurance Company, has pledged to change the perception of people about the insurance industry and work hard to tackle delays and inadequate claims payment.
It intends to focus on non-life and general insurance in the country.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Serene Insurance, Christopher Boadi-Mensah, in a welcome address, explained that Serene Insurance would redefine insurance in Ghana.
He said his outfit would work closely with the regulator to increase insurance penetration in Ghana.
The CEO stated that sound corporate governance practices would be strictly observed in accordance with all regulations of the National Insurance Commission (NIC) to meet the needs of the public and protect the investments of the shareholders.
Commissioner of Insurance, Yaw Ofori, in a speech read on his behalf by the deputy, Kofi Andoh, said that although the industry has chalked up some success, there are several bottlenecks to be addressed in order to stimulate growth.
He disclosed that the NIC was making frantic efforts to introduce sound regulations to boost the industry.
“We would work together with all industry players, including Serene Insurance Limited, to improve claims culture by addressing challenges associated with claims management and payment. “This should go a long way to enhance public confidence in the industry, and by extension improve insurance penetration in Ghana,” he added.
In the wake of recent happenings in the financial sector, the Commissioner stated that NIC would not hesitate to crack the whip on players that fail to observe sound corporate governance practices.
In the future, Mr Ofori mentioned that the Commission would consider peer review as a means of self-regulating the industry and combating money laundering and financial terrorism.
He advised Serene Insurance to champion product innovations to address the unique needs of the market and not emulate the policies of other insurance companies in the country.
Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, in a statement read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Charles Adu-Boahen, disclosed that Akufo-Addo administration remains unequivocally focused on creating the right macro-economic environment for private sector participation in the country’s economy.
He said that although there are positive developments in the insurance sub-sector with premium income growing from 24 per cent in 2016 to 26 per cent last year, huge premium incomes leaving the country remains a source of worry to government.
According to him, total reinsurance premium transfer out of the country amounted to over GH?13.5 million last year although the Insurance Act, 2006 (Act 724) requires that insurers fully utilize local market capacity before resorting to overseas reinsurance.
The minister, therefore, tasked the NIC to strictly enforce the aforementioned law to ensure they exhaust local capacity requirements.
He, however, urged the NIC to also build the capacity of local insurance companies to be able to handle the risk in the oil and gas sector, among others.
“The risk in the oil and gas sector is so huge that the entire insurance industry in Ghana has just a fraction of it and the rest goes outside the country. There is the need for insurance companies in Ghana to build capacity in order to retain most of such risks, since this would go a long way to support the economy because the premiums would be kept here in Ghana,” the Finance Minister said.
He, therefore, urged managers and shareholders of Serene Insurance Company to uphold the highest ethical standards.
Eric Seddy Kutortse, founder of the Serene Insurance, promised to offer innovative products to clients.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema