Providing Safe Haven For FDI in West Africa

West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to create and establish an agency for the protection of foreign direct investment in the sub-region against the uncertainties of political and other related risks.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of WAICA hosted in The Gambia by the Insurance Association of The Gambia (IAG) on 16 and 17 April, the secretary general and chief executive officer of WAICA, William B. Coker, said the idea of establishing the agency, dubbed WAICA/ECOWAS Investment Guarantee and Reinsurance Agency, is prompted by the fact that safety and protection of investment is a major concern to all current and potential stakeholders, especially investors, in West Africa.

 “This venture is another vehicle that can be used to facilitate regional economic integration, which is the aim of both WAICA and ECOWAS,” Mr Coker said, adding that the agency is a private sector player which will be run and managed as a commercial venture; “therefore the issue of bureaucracy will not be there”.

The reinsurance aspect of the project will be taken care of by WAICA Reinsurance Corporation, which is a new reinsurance company set up by WAICA, Mr Coker disclosed.

When operational, the agency will give potential investors worldwide the opportunity to invest in West Africa knowing that they are protected against political uncertainties and other related risks that might ruin their investment.

Analysts say a major factor inhibiting the flow of foreign direct investment into the ECOWAS region is the unstable political environment of its member states and their very weak democratic governance structures.

Gambia insurance industry receives a leg up in reinsurance business

The main private reinsurance company in Ghana has just cemented a strong bond of cooperation and service delivery in reinsurance with Gambia insurance companies, in which insurance entities in The Gambia would have the outlet of ceding business to the Ghana concern. 

Mainstream Reinsurance Company Limited of Ghana therefore held a two-day seminar for Gambia insurance entities to strengthen and reinforce their relationship, on 5 September 2010 at the Laico
Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.

“This seminar is to build on the existing relation between Mainstream Reinsurance Company and the Gambia insurance market,” said Dr Kwame Adom Frimpong, managing director of Mainstream Reinsurance Company, who is the head of the Ghanaian delegation to The Gambia.  “So the meeting is to reinforce and strengthen the relationship on cordial basis and I am sure after this seminar the good ties between the insurance companies in The Gambia and Mainstream Reinsurance Company will widen.”

The Gambia insurance market is said to be among the biggest contributors, by way of ceding business to Mainstream Reinsurance Company since its inception.  

Dr Frimpong, MD Mainstream Reinsurance

“We have been dealing with the Gambia insurance companies for a long time and now is time to pay back the benefits we have got from you [the Gambia insurance industry],” Dr Frimpong said during the seminar held at the Laico Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.  He added:  “We decided to organize this seminar not in Ghana but to come to your doorstep so that you would also benefit from us.” 

The insurance tycoon said his company has had a lot of benefits from insurance companies in The Gambia, which prompted them to come to the country to offer some assistance from the benefits they are deriving from the Gambia market. “So it’s just a reciprocal benefit we are giving to the Gambia insurance industry,” he remarked.

He said as part of the seminar they would interact with Gambia insurance companies to know the problems they are encountering with regard to reinsurance business and discuss how best they could strengthen this relationship between the insurance companies in The Gambia and Mainstream Reinsurance.