Insurance companies must develop more innovative marketing strategies to attract the vast informal sector, Dr Albert Gemegah, Head of the Insurance Department of the University of Ghana Business School has said. Speaking at a forum on the benefits of life insurance to the national economy, Dr Gemegah said a viable option for insurance companies to reach the informal sector operators was to develop a strong linkage between micro-finance and micro-insurance operations in the country. In addition, there must be on offer attractive and alternative investment products that would make consumers accept to use insurance as an instrument of risk management. The Business and Financial Times and the Life Offices Association of Ghana organized the Life Assurance Forum to educate the public on the benefits of life insurance and to enable them get better appreciation of the risks they face and to guide them to select the right insurance products to protect themselves. To facilitate effective operation of the industry, Dr Gemegah called on government as a matter of priority to strengthen the regulatory environment through adequate funding and the creation of appropriate structures. Government must also provide tax incentives, which is essential for the promotion of life insurance business. Ms Josephine Amoah, Commissioner of Insurance, said the life assurance business in the country had started picking up after about two decades of decline. In 2005, life business in the country produced a total premium income of 31.25 million Ghana Cedis. This is expected to increase to about 60 million Ghana Cedis at the end of this year. Ms Amoah said the Insurance Industry needed to do more to promote Life Business if it was to serve as the vehicle for the mobilization of long-term investible funds. Touching on legal reforms in the industry, Ms Amoah said the promulgation of Act 724 was carried out to empower regulatory authority to effectively supervise insurance business to ensure quality service delivery and thereby increase public confidence and patronage of insurance services. The law requires Life Companies to be set up as separate entities, gives the Commission power to approve Life Policy terms and conditions including premium rate to ensure fair treatment of policy holders and the Commission also monitor compliance with the law to detect early warning signals for quick remedial action. Ms Amoah said all these and other provisions in the law were to help to ensure the survival and financial soundness of insurance companies. Raymond Afrifah-Yamoah, Vice-President of the Life Offices Association said Life insurance provided social stability and reduced stress and enable people to meet their financial obligations. He stressed the need for practitioners in the industry to work on developing new products or repackaging old ones to meet the needs of policy holders and desist from unhealthy practice such as undercutting. Source: GNA