Access Bank and Coronation Insurance have unveiled a Business Protection Insurance Policy to safeguard Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) against fire, flood, burglary and personal accidents.

Mr Adedayo Arowojolu, the Managing Director of Coronation Insurance, said events in the recent past had shown the disruptive power of fire and flood on business operations, hence the initiative.

He said, "We all know what happened in Makola in July, this year and some families are still yet to recover from those occurrences," and urged SMEs to embrace the policy.

The Managing Director said Access Bank, knowing the relevance of SMEs to the growth of the local economy, brought out the initiative to educate business owners on the impact of fire on their businesses and how to secure their investments.

He underscored the importance of SMEs in job and wealth creation and said it was in the interest of everybody to work towards the growth of SMEs.

Mr Arowojolu noted that sometimes, business owners could take all the precautions but fire and flood could still destroy what they had built over the years and asked, "When that happens, who do you run to?"

"Today, Coronation Insurance together with Access Bank is providing that comfort in case there is that fire, theft and personal accident to the business owner," he added.

He encouraged business owners to take advantage of the offer to secure their businesses.

Madam Matilda Asante-Asiedu, Group Head Retail Banking, Access Bank, told the GNA that they thought it wise to provide the product to enable small businesses to protect their investments since most of them were exposed to disruptive elements like fire and flood.

"To be able to secure your businesses, you need to get your business running. This is why Access Bank has collaborated with Coronation Insurance to provide you with that needed stability," she said.

Mr David Amoateng, the President of the Traders Advocacy Group, Ghana, challenged insurance companies, especially Coronation Insurance, to move out of their comfort zones into markets and educate business owners on insurance.

"It is about time to get out of your offices and hit the ground running. Educate market women and men on insurance because many people do not know the importance and benefits of insurance and, therefore, do not see the need to take one," he said.

Mr Amoateng commended the partnership between the two institutions to champion the education of traders to invest in insurance packages to protect their businesses.

The President of TAGG called on members to take insurance policies to protect their businesses against disasters.

He called on Access Bank to continue to support businesses with soft loans so they could expand their businesses.