The conference brought together over 100 sales men and women, sales managers as well as branch managers across the country on the theme; "Premium mobilization, the role of the agent."

Reverend Dr. Elizabeth Wyns-Dogbe, Managing Director, SIC Life Company Limited, said salesmen and women played crucial role in positioning the Company as a market leader and increasing the premium penetration of the entire insurance industry and impacting positively on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

She said the Company was determined to have a dynamic and formidable sales force endowed with professionalism, integrity, innovation, customer focused and teamwork to achieve its target.

The Director said management believed that the welfare and continuous improvement of the sales force was paramount to the success of the Company, adding that "any life insurer who ignores its sales force is sure to fail unless they are set up for something else."

She said one of the strategic pillars of the Company was its workforce, therefore the Company was poised to build a skilled and well-motivated staff who were performance driven. 

Dr. Wyns-Dogbe lauded the efforts of the sales teams for their hard work, diligence and significant contribution to the growth of the Company, especially in 2018, meeting 96.64 per cent of its premium as well as achieving the highest profit.

Mr Justice Yaw Ofori, Commissioner, National Insurance Commission, said the life insurance market in the country was currently undergoing fierce competition with the entry of multinational life insurance companies.

He said as the regulator, the Commission had been making effort to innovate and improve the industry by issuing directives and guidelines such as market conduct rules and regulations for micro insurance and mobile insurance to ensure that an enabling environment was created to encourage novelty and development for the growth of the life insurance business.

Mr Ofori said the Commission through the Ghana Insurance College had designed an Agency Refresher Programme for existing licensed agents, which was free for the first 1,000 agents to register and Agency Certification Programme for new agents subject to renewal for existing agents and license application for new agents respectively.

He said the Commission was also running a free agency training programme aimed at training 10,000 youth to form an "agency pool" from, which insurers could select persons and educate them on their products.

Mr Ofori said the Commission was investing in the agency training because "it believes that an insurance agent who is well equipped with business ethics, adequate product and market knowledge will sell right, and this will lead to reduction in mis-selling, defrauding clients... resulting in an increase in public trust and growth of the industry."

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, lauded the Company for strict adherence to the laid down rules, procedures and guidelines and timely payment of insurance claims.

The Minister said insurance policies including life and family policies and other smart products were necessary in helping the life of the individual in time of difficulties.

He therefore urged income earners to endeavor to engage in insurance business to enable them quickly address certain challenges in life.

Dr Letsa said despite the benefits insurance penetration was very low in the country due to misunderstanding and lack of better appreciation of the numerous benefits of the policy.

He therefore admonished insurance firms to accelerate efforts in educating the citizenry and promoting their products for people to understand the usefulness and benefits of the concept of insurance policy to enable them embrace it.