The Council of Bureau of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme on Friday, April 22, 2016 organised a one-day 1st Zonal conference of the year in Accra, Ghana.

The conference, which was on the theme “trans-border claims management”, was held at Clever House and was attended by representatives of the various stakeholders of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme across the sub- region.

The ECOWAS Brown Card scheme was introduced in 1982 following the signing of the ECOWAS Brown Card Protocol by the ECOWAS heads of state to facilitate the free movement of goods and services.

Opening the conference, the chairman of the Ghana Bureau of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme, Mr. Kwame Ofori, said the purpose of the conference was to discuss technical matters relating to the scheme and to settle outstanding claims between bureaux. He added that the conference would also provide an opportunity for sharing ideas together with the view to promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme.

Insurance Commissioner posed with participants

Mr. Ofori also, revealed that by June 2016 Ghana would be the first Anglophone country to join the Franco-phone countries to issue Brown Card automatically to all motor insurance policyholders.

In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms. Hanna Serwaah Tetteh, said the successful adoption of the common instruments and the simplification and harmonisation of processes and documentation were critical to the common quest of the authority of ECOWAS heads of state and government to achieve  integration in the sub-region.

She, therefore, urged all member states of ECOWAS to garner the political will to put these institutional structures in place for effective implementation of the provisions of the scheme.

The ECOWAS Brown Card is territorial extension of the motor third party liability insurance which enables motorists to travel free within ECOWAS Brown Card region.

The scheme is a common system for the settlement of claims arising from international motor vehicle traffic accidents. The initiative is expected to lead to a desirable harmonization between member countries to the protocol of the laws and regulations governing liability in respect to motor vehicle accident.

The main objective of the scheme is to ensure prompt and fair compensation to victims of motor accidents caused by a non-citizen motorist visiting their territory from other ECOWAS Members states.

Hence, the system guarantees a motor insurance cover which leads to the realisation of the free movement objectives of ECOWAS.