Nigeria, Ghana sign MOU to strengthen insurance investigation, supervision

Nigeria and Ghana on Friday in Abuja signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cross border insurance supervision through information sharing and investigation assistance. Mr Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), and his counterpart from the National Insurance Commission (NIC) of Ghana, Mrs Nyamikeh Kyiamah, signed the agreement.

Daniel described the MOU as the first for the Nigeria regulatory body with a fellow regulator in Africa. He added that the MOU underlined the commission’s commitment to build synergies with other regulators in the region on the growth and stability of insurance markets. He said many Nigerian insurance companies regulated by NAICOM had been authorised by NIC to conduct insurance business in Ghana.

He listed IGI Insurance, NEM Insurance, Regency Alliance, Equity Assurance, Intercontinental Wapic and International Energy Insurance. “The increased activities of these Nigerian insurance companies in Ghana make NIC Ghana one of our most important regulatory allies,’’ he said. The NAICOM commissioner expressed the hope that the signing of the MOU would promote international standards to foster favourable investment environment for both countries and beyond. He emphasised that efficient and timely exchange of information among supervisory bodies in the sector was critical to the effective supervision of internationally active insurers, insurance groups and financial conglomerates.

“The supervisory authority has an important role to play in combating fraud in insurance within its jurisdiction and communicates with other supervisors,” he said. Daniel expressed regret that the insurance industry in Africa had been characterised by low penetration and poor contribution to the financial growth in most countries. Therefore maintaining efficient, fair, safe and stable insurance market in the West Africa region must be promoted for the benefit of the policy holders.’’ In her response, Kyiamah lauded the cooperation between both countries and noted that the MOU set out the types of information to be exchanged, its use and the basis on which the information might be obtained.

“The NIC want to express its profound gratitude and appreciation to NAICOM for the hard work, understanding and cooperation in the processes leading to the signing ceremony. I must, however, state that the existence of the MOU that we are about to sign will not necessarily result in the exchange of information between our two organisations unless we make conscious efforts to provide the necessary and appropriate information to each other, whether requested or not,’’ she said. The insurance industry in Nigeria contributes less than one per cent to the GDP, compared with Ghana where the industry contributes 1.5 per cent.