Alumnus elected as new Vice President of Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana

Alumnus Dr Geraldine Gina Abaidoo was elected as the Vice President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG) together with five elected executives at the AGM of the Institute. The mandate of the 9th Constituted Council is to steer the Institute’s affairs, as enshrined in the CIIG Constitution and Bye-laws.

Dr Abaidoo sits on the Boards of Hollard Life, Digital Leads Consults Limited, and the Alumni Executive Committee of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). She is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG), the President of Mfantsiman Old Girls’ Association (MOGA), a member of Executive Women Network and The Boardroom Africa, a Fellow of the International Institute for African Scholars (FIIAS), a Member of Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), UK, and a Consultant for UNDP (Ghana). She engages in executive mentoring and motivational speaking on leadership, women empowerment, and mental health.

The insurance industry in Ghana constitutes six critical categories of industry players and stakeholders.

• The Insurance Regulatory body – The National Insurance Commission,
• The Trade Associations -The Ghana Insurance Association, Insurance Brokers’ Association of Ghana,
• The Professional Development Wing -The Ghana Insurance College; The Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana
• The operational players made of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies;
• The intermediaries  brokers and agents, Risk and Loss Adjusters
• Affiliate organizations –Bancassurance houses, the Ghana Police Service, DVLA, Birth & Death Registry, Ghana Fire Service, Hospitals, NADMO, Garages, Auto Houses, etc.

The industry contributes on average 2% to GDP, hoping and expecting to grow the industry and increase penetration. However, Ghana’s insurance coverage is increasing, and more awareness is being created on Insurance offerings and benefits. The industry saw an expansion in its balance sheet in the year 2019. The industry experienced 20% growth in assets and 21% growth in premium.

The industry has 29 Non-Life Insurance companies, 20 Life Insurance Companies, 3 Reinsurance Companies, 90 Brokerage Houses, 3 Loss Adjusters, and 5 Reinsurance Brokers.

The Pioneer members of CIIG considered the needed platform where the need for a professional body will provide the unifying and common platform to regulate the professional operations and performance in the insurance market, leading to the establishment of the Insurance Institute of Ghana (renamed the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana) in 1970.  The Institute was then formally inaugurated in 1972 and incorporated into a company limited by guarantee in 1980 under the companies’ code 1963, Act 179.

The CIIG has three key objectives, namely:

• To promote the development of the Insurance Profession and practice
• To ensure the integrity of insurance management in the country.
• Ensure insurance practice and services are of the highest possible standards and conform to internationally accepted best practices.

The values of CIIG are Professionalism, Integrity, and Excellence.

The Governing Council of the CIIG constitute:

• National Executive Committee consisting of Six elected members– President, Vice President, General Secretary, Assistant General Secretary, Treasurer, and Public Relations Officer;
• Four Institutional representatives from the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana Insurance Association (GIA), Insurance  Brokers Association of Ghana(IBAG) and Ghana Insurance College (GIC); and an Ex Officio Member; and
• Immediate Past President.

The Governing Council sees to the operational activities of the Institute with the mandate to promote excellence in professional standards and ethical conduct.

The CIIG is better placed with membership from across the Ghanaian Industries spectrum with a growing number of over 1500 professionally qualified members.

Geraldine seeks to support the President and other Council Members to provide professional and qualitative leadership to advance the cause of the CIIG and the insurance industry as a whole. The Institute would work towards the setting up of a legal/regulatory and advocacy framework for the attainment of Chartered Status for the local Institute which would be the symbol of the highest professional and ethical standards for insurance practitioners in Ghana.

The National Executives have instituted a Defend and Grow strategy that captures nine key objectives for implementation to gain visibility and bring some positive change to the insurance industry and fraternity in particular and Ghana as a whole.