The newly inducted President of Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) and Chief Executive Officer of Star Assurance Limited, Mrs Boatemaa Barfour Awuah, has signalled a major transformation agenda for Ghana’s insurance industry, declaring her intention to reposition the sector as a core pillar of national economic infrastructure.
She outlined the bold plans at her induction ceremony as the 12th President of the Ghana Insurers Association held at the Labadi Hotel on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.
Speaking to an audience that included regulators, policymakers, industry leaders, and government representatives, Mrs Barfour Awuah framed her presidency as a turning point for the insurance sector.
“Insurance is not a side conversation. Insurance must rise to its rightful place as a national economic infrastructure. Not as an underdog, but as one of the insurance-economies, airlines, enterprises, safeguards, and public assets, and strengthens the plan to invest and to grow”.
Chief Executive Officer of Star Assurance Limited, and President of Ghana Insurers Association, Boatemaa Barfour-Awuah
She explained that insurance plays a foundational role in stabilising households, supporting businesses and protecting public assets. According to her, when a shop collapses, a flood destroys a community or a household suffers unexpected loss, insurance should be the mechanism that absorbs the shock and enables recovery.
Yet, she acknowledged that many Ghanaians remain excluded from this protection. ]She drew attention to the trust deficit confronting the industry, saying, “Too many Ghanaians do not get the chance, not because they are reckless, but because protection is still out of reach or out of trust.”
Confronting the Uncomfortable Truth: Low Insurance Penetration and Relevance
Mrs Barfour Awuah challenged industry players to confront what she described as an uncomfortable truth about low insurance penetration and relevance. She cited data indicating that insurance density stood at about 203 in 2024, a figure she described as inconsistent with Ghana’s development ambitions.
In her view, this weak penetration undermines resilience and leaves households, small businesses, and public infrastructure exposed. She contrasted this with the broader financial sector landscape, noting that total financial sector assets reached approximately 525 billion cedis in 2024.
Of this, banking accounted for about 76 percent, while insurance lagged significantly behind. According to her, this imbalance reflects missed opportunities rather than structural limitations. “Insurance is not only for national development. It is our baseline. It stabilises household shocks. It allows SMEs to grow and find investment,” she remarked.
Mrs Barfour Awuah argued that a strong insurance sector enables small and medium enterprises to grow, supports trade and investment, protects infrastructure, and promotes long term domestic capital formation in areas such as housing, energy, and industry.
For this reason, she said the Ghana Insurers Association must evolve into a stronger and more unified voice capable of influencing policy and shaping national priorities. She announced that her administration would pursue a results-driven agenda anchored in transparency and evidence.
Central to this approach is the publication of quarterly industry scorecards covering insurance density, compulsory insurance compliance, claims turnaround times, premium payments, and customer experience. “These are not just statistics,” she explained. “They represent gaps in resilience, confidence and trust.”
Enforcement and Expansion of Compulsory Insurance
One of the major pillars of her agenda is the enforcement and expansion of compulsory insurance. Mrs Barfour-Awuah noted that existing laws already provide for mandatory insurance in several areas, particularly in public spaces and high risk sectors, but enforcement has been inconsistent.
She pledged closer collaboration with the National Insurance Commission, the National Road Safety Authority, the Police, and other relevant agencies to make enforcement practical and effective.
She also indicated that the Association would engage stakeholders to address informal and unregulated practices that distort the market and erode confidence, stressing that fairness and compliance must underpin growth.
Another priority highlighted in her address is improving claims settlement and payment outcomes. She argued that public confidence in insurance ultimately depends on how quickly and fairly claims are paid. “We are trusted only when we pay,” she stated plainly.
Mrs Barfour-Awuah said insurers must strengthen internal processes, product design, and governance to ensure that insurance delivers real value to policyholders. According to her, traceable revenue, reliable administration, and consistent claims handling are essential to restoring credibility.
She also emphasised the need to strengthen market discipline and modernise premium collection systems. She noted that while progress has been made in introducing new payment platforms, these must be scaled up to reduce arrears, improve capital strength and support sustainable growth.
She said modernising premium collection is key to “ensuring momentum, resilience and technical readiness” across the industry. Here, technology and data featured prominently in her transformation agenda.
Mrs Barfour-Awuah said the industry must make smarter use of data and automation to reduce operating costs, speed up underwriting and claims processing, enhance fraud detection, and improve customer experience.
She added that innovation should also drive the development of new products that expand coverage and protect public and private assets more effectively. Delivering this agenda, she said, would require deeper collaboration within the industry and with external stakeholders.
Investment in Research-Based Advocacy
She announced plans to invest in research-based advocacy and to strengthen the technical capacity of the GIA secretariat, relying more on local expertise to build trust and support market-friendly reforms. She also reaffirmed her commitment to credible self-regulation as a complement to statutory oversight.
“The NIC cannot enforce the laws alone. Government cannot build resilience alone. Businesses cannot absorb losses alone. Insurers cannot grow alone. We must all act together, insurers, brokers, policymakers, civil society, and the media, respectfully and intentionally.”
Chief Executive Officer of Star Assurance Limited, and President of Ghana Insurers Association, Boatemaa Barfour-Awuah
She concluded by stressing that her tenure would be judged not by rhetoric but by tangible outcomes. According to her, progress would be assessed continuously, with regular reporting, course correction, and delivery based on evidence. “When our term ends, the question will not be who spoke well, but what changed,” she said.
Mrs Barfour-Awuah expressed confidence in the newly constituted GIA Board, noting that its collective experience positions the Association to deliver measurable results.
With her bold plans now clearly articulated, expectations are high that the Ghana Insurers Association will play a more decisive role in strengthening trust, expanding protection and repositioning insurance as a cornerstone of Ghana’s economic future.
READ ALSO: Ghana Secures China’s $30 million Grant for Damongo University
