Nigerian insurance companies plan to open branches in Ghana

By Adetunji Adeleye

President Umaru Yar’AduaMANY Nigerian insurance companies are set to establish subsidiaries in Ghana with imminent opportunities awaiting the insurance industry through the discovery of oil. Speculation is rife that about three or four more companies will join the train before the end of the year.

While IGi Insurance, the largest insurance firm in Nigeria, acquired Network Assurance Limited at the beginning of this year, Equity Assurance Ghana Limited launched its operations some two weeks ago.

Apart from these two, three companies with South African participation, one with French participation and three other companies with Nigerian partici-pation have opened their offices in Ghana.

Four years ago when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the minimum capital requirement of banks to N25 billion (about $ 181million) from about N2 billion ($14.5 million), it culminated in the extension of business to Ghana by some Nigerian banks in order to mobilize more deposits.

Today as many as about five banks including UBA, Intercontinental and Zenith banks have all created subsidiaries, rolling out several branches across the country and in the process, bringing competition to the banking industry, and making the financial sector the most lucrative. UBA is noted for bringing democratization into the banking industry.

Insurance plays an important role in every economy as it provides security for the country and its people so the surfacing of the foreign insurance companies such as Regency Alliance Limited, International Energy and Capital Express is a welcome development.

The National Insurance Company (NIC) should also be commended for separating life insurance business from general portfolio since the passage of the new Insurance Law 2006, Act 724. It is presently engaged in discussions to raise the minimum capital requirement of the firms from $1 million to $10 million.

“Can’t we take a cue from Nigeria, our neighbors who have pegged their minimum capital requirement at $16 million so as to consolidate the industry and take advantage of the numerous advantages that the discovery of oil will bring to the country than to allow foreign insurance companies to bully us?”

The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama at a recent meeting urged insurance companies to work assiduously towards attracting the attention of Ghanaians into buying insurance products. According to him, Ghana is fast becoming a middle-income country and therefore with the national economy and investment respectively experiencing growth, coupled with the country’s recent oil find, “demand for high quality insurance products is bound to increase.

“I wish to observe that in many ways the insurance sector is still a virgin industry in this country with a huge undeveloped market. Until the advent of the national insurance scheme, insurance was alien to a large section of our population.” Ghana’s insurance penetration currently stands around 1.60 percent and this has been described as very low compared with Cote d’Ivoire’s figure of 5 percent, Namibia’s 8 percent and 16 percent for South Africa.

All Ghanaians are therefore being encouraged to embrace the emergence of these foreign insurance companies especially from neighbouring Nigeria since their presence will not only heighten competition but promote regional integration. The consolidation of the sector will also increase its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) which presently stands at two percent.

Celtel Nigeria starts pre-paid roaming in UK others

By Adetunji Adeleye

•Bayo Ligali, MD, Celtel NigeriaPrepaid Celtel Nigeria customers can now conveniently use their phones in several countries of the world including the United Kingdom, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirate, Belgium and Sri Lanka, among others.

The pre-paid roaming service has been made possible by the signing of agreement by the leading Nigerian mobile operator and a range of telecommunication network operators in various several countries of the world.

Also, pre-paid customers can use their phones in the Celtel One Network countries, the world’s first borderless mobile network, which covers several countries like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Niger and Sudan.

According to Chief Marketing Officer, Celtel Nigeria, Norman Moyo, “with the introduction of Pre-paid roaming, our customers do not need to change their SIM card or purchase another line when they travel to major locations of the world. Our customer can now make and receive calls as well as send SMS even when they are several kilometers away from home.

“We are happy to be able to help our customers stay in touch with their families, friends and business associates in several places across the globe. Prepaid customers do not have to make any deposit with the company before they can use the service. Indeed access to the service is hassle free as the customer does not have to pay registration fees, complete registration forms or have their SIM cards specially provisioned before access to the service can be granted.

“In the coming months, we will be expanding the number of countries where our customers can use their Celtel SIM cards outside Nigeria”. Commenting further on the features of the newly introduced service, Moyo said: “The pre-paid roaming service is unique in several ways. It allows all pre-paid customers the access to use their local numbers while traveling out of Africa. It also affords customers an opportunity to be connected to the Celtel Network while abroad without a single hassle of registration or special provisioning.”

The new addition to the roaming portfolio of Celtel will complement existing roaming arrangement for post paid customers who have had access to the company’s roaming service since 2001. Post paid customers can now roam in more than 290 networks across the world. Moyo also explained that “On arriving abroad, all a Celtel Nigeria customer needs to do is to switch on his phone and the automatically the roaming service is activated.

Also, customers can perform a manual search for any network of choice. At completion of this process, customers will be able to make and receive calls. Pre-paid customers are expected to recharge or top up their lines before traveling to any of the designated countries. Customers can use their airtime the way they choose once the roaming service has been activated. Customers are charged only for the calls they made and received as there are no hidden charges.”

The Chief Marketing Officer said the introduction of pre-paid roaming by Celtel Nigeria is another demonstration of the commitment of Celtel to empowering Nigerians and helping to strengthen family and business ties as well as friendship. Last year, Celtel expanded the innovative world’s first borderless network, One Network, to six more countries, thus scrapping roaming charges and making the service available to more than 400 million people across the continent.