The brokers’ association wants micro-insurance taken out of VAT and one regulator instead of several, and it has taken the case to the former Vice President.
Former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has met the leadership of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), the body that represents firms which arrange insurance cover on behalf of clients, to discuss policy changes the brokers say would grow the industry.
The meeting, reported by The Ghana Report, centred on practical steps to deal with problems in the sector and to raise the industry's contribution to the wider economy.
What the brokers asked for
According to Dr Bawumia, IBAG President Stephen Kwarteng Yeboah set out a list of concerns. Chief among them was what the association sees as a heavy Value Added Tax (VAT) load on insurance services. VAT is the consumption tax added to the price of goods and services.
The association proposed that micro-insurance products \u2014 low-premium policies designed for low-income households and small traders \u2014 be exempted from VAT altogether. Its argument is that cheaper premiums would push more Ghanaians to buy cover.
IBAG also raised what it described as over-regulation of the industry, and asked for a single regulatory body to handle oversight instead of the current arrangement.
On farming, the brokers called for stronger government backing for agricultural insurance so that farmers have better protection against risks such as crop loss.
Other requests included:
- Enforcing the compulsory use of local insurance brokers.
- Making Group Life and Workmen's Compensation insurance mandatory. Workmen's Compensation covers employees who are injured on the job.
- Introducing decennial liability insurance for road construction projects. This is cover that runs for about ten years after a project is completed and responds to defects and liabilities that show up later.
Bawumia's response
Dr Bawumia said the proposals had the potential to transform Ghana's insurance brokerage industry. He added that his team would keep engaging IBAG and other players in the sector as part of work on practical measures to grow the industry.
The source report did not indicate any commitment beyond continued engagement, and no government agency has responded to the proposals in the report.
Why it matters, including from abroad
Insurance penetration in Ghana remains low compared with the size of the economy, and the brokers' pitch is essentially that tax relief and simpler regulation would widen the number of people covered.
For Ghanaians in the United States and elsewhere who send money home, own property in Ghana, or run businesses there, the proposals touch familiar pain points. Mandatory Group Life and Workmen's Compensation cover would affect employers, including diaspora-owned small firms. Decennial liability cover on road projects speaks to the long-running question of who pays when infrastructure fails soon after it is built.
For now, these remain proposals put to a former officeholder, not policy. What happens next depends on whether they are taken up by the sitting government and the sector's regulator.
