Life Insurance Market Grows in West Africa

July 28 - The life insurance industry in West African countries such as Nigeria and Ghana brought encouraging news where it was noted that premium income has soared in recent times.

This is despite a number of challenges still facing the industries.

These figures are a direct result from laws that were enacted in both countries to encourage the growth of life insurance.

The Ghanaian Insurance Act of 2006 is starting to bear fruit, along with Nigeria's Pension Act of 2004.

Since Ghana separated its life insurance industry from non life insurance two years ago, life insurance policy sales have soared.

The Managing Director of Nigeria's Royal Exchange Prudential Life, Larry Ademeso said: "In a very dynamic environment, the need of the customers and Nigerians constantly change, so you will agree with me that we need to constantly develop new products that will meet the needs and aspirations of Nigerians."

According to Ademeso, insurance is still not considered a high priority among Nigerians, mainly due to the low economic power of the man in the street.

Other challenges facing these industries, preventing from reaching standards such as those seen in the South African insurance markets, include the fact that companies are still not fully complying with group life scheme legislation, while some insurance companies were engaging in unethical rate cutting practices.