The insurance industry offers significant employment opportunities for young people, particularly in specialised fields such as actuarial science and statistics, Rector of the Ghana Insurance University College (GIU), Dr Richard Okyere, has said.

He urged WASSCE graduates and other young people with strong interests in mathematics, data and analytical work to consider careers in insurance, saying the sector continues to face a shortage of skilled professionals.

Dr Okyere said Ghana’s low insurance penetration also presented considerable room for growth, creating opportunities for professionals who can help expand the industry and manage increasingly complex financial risks.

“Low insurance penetration implies huge opportunity to grow with high demand for manpower,” he said.

He made the comments while speaking about the admission process and programmes offered by GIU, which was inaugurated earlier this year as a higher education institution focused on developing professionals for Ghana’s insurance and financial sectors.

Dr Okyere said GIU has a distinctive advantage because it is owned by players in the insurance industry, allowing it to maintain a direct link between professional practice and academic training.

“Here, the uniqueness is that there is a bridge between the industry and academia,” he said.

The institution evolved from the Ghana Insurance College, established in 2006 by key industry stakeholders, including the National Insurance Commission, Ghana Insurers Association, Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana and the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana.

Dr Okyere said the university had expanded beyond traditional professional insurance training to offer degree programmes in specialised areas.

These include a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science with Insurance and Statistics with Insurance.

“These are two specialised areas — actuarial insurance and statistics insurance. We have merged the two areas to produce professionals with both a computational mindset and an underwriting mindset,” he said.

According to Dr Okyere, the programmes are intended to address a shortage of actuarial and other technical professionals in Ghana and across Africa.

He said a stronger pool of local expertise was needed to help insurance companies price products appropriately, assess financial risks and make better-informed decisions.

“The aim is manpower development and the technical expertise to help manage financial risks in our markets,” he said.

He noted that the shortage of local expertise sometimes meant insurance and financial institutions had to rely on professionals from countries including the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States.

“This does not help the country. This promotes capital flight; the country throws away significant dollars outside the country,” he said.

Dr Okyere said developing local expertise could help retain foreign exchange, strengthen the insurance industry and improve Ghana’s ability to compete in the global financial market.

The Rector said GIU was also incorporating emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, financial modelling, predictive modelling and data analytics into its programmes.

He said the approach was intended to prepare students for changing demands in the insurance and wider financial services sectors.

Graduates, he disclosed, would receive a Bachelor of Science degree jointly issued with the University of Ghana, alongside a professional diploma in insurance administered in collaboration with an overseas professional body.

Dr Okyere said experienced actuaries, statisticians, insurance practitioners, chief executive officers and academics would also be involved in teaching and mentoring students.

He urged parents and prospective students to consider insurance-related programmes as viable career options, stressing that the skills acquired could be applied beyond the insurance industry.

“The university is owned by the market, so the advantage of getting a job is there. Students here will have added leverage,” he said.

According to him, graduates could find opportunities in sectors including banking, pensions, healthcare and manufacturing, where actuarial, statistical, financial modelling and risk management skills are increasingly relevant.

Dr Okyere said GIU’s broader objective was to develop the skilled workforce needed to expand insurance coverage and strengthen financial risk management in Ghana.

He therefore encouraged WASSCE certificate holders with strong analytical and cognitive interests to explore the emerging career opportunities within insurance and related sectors.