George Otoo, Ghana Reinsurance Company Limited, Board Chairman
Amid a plethora of economic shocks, including the financial sector reset and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ghana Reinsurance Company Limited (Ghana RE) has posted impressive growth.
The company has grown by 61.66% over the four-year period from 2017 to 2020, closing the last financial year with GH¢312million. In that time frame, the insurer also remitted a total of GH¢37million to the state – its sole shareholder, GH¢10million of which was for 2020.
This was disclosed by the board of directors chairman, George Otoo, at the inauguration of Ghana RE’s reconstituted board. Mr. Otoo further disclosed that his outfit, during the tenure of the previous board, saw its gross profit appreciate by 14.29 percent from GH¢49million to GH¢56million, with a current market share of 45 percent for general business – a figure Ghana RE intends growing to 55 percent over the course of the next three years.
“The company hopes to maintain its 80 percent share for life business in the next three years. But more importantly, we will continue to provide capacity for local companies to retain more premiums in the country for development,” he said.
On his part, Deputy Minister of Finance, John Kumah – who represented the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta commended Ghana RE for its previous performance, particularly in the face of keen competition and its reliance solely on internally generated funds.
He however tasked the board, particularly in light of AfCFTA, to embark on an expansionary drive into targetted markets in Africa to grow its premium income, as well as increase its return on equity from 14.8 percent to 20 percent by 2024.
Touching on the newly introduced Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061), the Deputy Minister said: “It is expected to position the insurance industry to meaningfully contribute in the agenda of strengthening the financial sector and deepening financial markets, improving corporate governance practices within the industry, and increasing competitiveness of the insurance industry.
“It is therefore incumbent on the board, together with the National Insurance Commission, to ensure its implementation and enhance Ghana’s attractiveness as an insurance hub for the sub-region.”
The Board Chair revealed that plans are underway to establish a regional office in Casablanca, Morocco, to serve the North African market. This will augment Ghana RE’s office in Cameroon which caters for the Central African Zone, as well as a full subsidiary in Kenya for the East African market.
Also, the seven-member board included investment analyst, George Y. Mensah (Managing Director); lawyer, Jennifer Owusu (member); financial consultant, Franklin Hayford (member); Chartered insurance practitioner, Lynda Odro (member); Director for Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Finance, Stella Williams (member); and economist, Dr. Francis Sapara-Grant (member).