By Kebba Jeffang
The Secretary General of the Insurance Association of The Gambia (IAG), Mr. Molifa Sanneh, said it will need an aggressive sensitization campaign to build trust and confidence in Insurance in West Africa.
Mr. Sanneh was speaking at the conclusion of the 40th Annual General Meeting and Educational Conference of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA), on Tuesday 24th April 2018. The conference this year was themed on Promoting Public Trust and Confidence in the Insurance Industry in West Africa.
Mr. Sanneh said the loopholes that were apparently responsible for the low public trust and penetration in Insurance, were identified and resolutions were taken to remedy the situation.
“After every WAICA Education Conference and AGM, we the National Insurance Association together with Insurance Companies, make much effort to implement the resolutions before the next meeting. So at the next Conference, we will be asking ourselves the percentage of progress achieved, when it comes to implementation,” he said.
Apart from embarking on massive sensitization, the WAICA 2018 meeting resolved to further push the agenda of introducing Insurance as a subject of study in Schools.
In The Gambia, the IAG had several meetings with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Department of Curriculum Development to this effect. A similar process has been taking place in other member countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Mr. Sanneh said, “With the blessing from Government, the subject will be introduced in Schools so that students can start learning about Insurance at the grassroots level. The objective is that even if the students don’t take up a career in Insurance upon graduation from Senior School, they would have had sufficient understanding of the subject and its importance.”
Mr. Sanneh also said the Gambia Insurance Industry is relentless in its commitment to further engage Government on the establishment of an autonomous Insurance Commission for the country.
Already, Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, have national insurance commissions, a special agency charged with the responsibility of regulating and supervising the industry.
“We are going to continue engaging Government and other stakeholders so that the Gambia can also be in line with what obtains internationally,” he said.
