The Rector of the Ghana Insurance University College (GIUC), Dr Richard Okyere, has urged the youth to pursue courses in insurance, particularly actuarial science, to help address the shortage of skilled manpower in the sector.
According to him, the insurance industry offered numerous employment opportunities, and the youth must take advantage of them to secure jobs and build careers after school.
Dr Okyere made the call in an interview with a cross-section of the media on the admission process and programmes offered by the GIUC.
The university, inaugurated earlier this year, is a premier higher education institution in Accra dedicated to developing professionals for Ghana’s insurance and financial sectors.
It originated from the Ghana Insurance College, established in 2006 by key industry stakeholders, including the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), Ghana Insurance Brokers Association (GIBA) and the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG).
Dr Okyere said the university was uniquely positioned because it was owned by the insurance industry, creating a direct link between academia and the profession.
“Here, the uniqueness is that there is a bridge between the industry and academia. It is established,” he said.
He explained that GIUC had moved beyond traditional professional insurance programmes to introduce degree programmes in specialised areas, including BSc 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.
Dr Okyere said the programmes were designed to respond to the shortage of actuarial professionals in Ghana and across Africa, which he said affected the industry’s ability to price insurance products properly and assess financial risks.
“The aim is manpower development and the technical expertise to help manage financial risks in our markets,” he stated.
He said Ghana’s low insurance penetration also presented significant opportunities for young professionals, noting that penetration remained below one per cent.
“Low insurance penetration implies huge opportunity to grow,” he said, adding that increasing penetration could significantly expand the size and strength of the industry.
He further noted that the shortage of local expertise often forced insurance and financial institutions to rely on professionals from countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States.
“This does not help. You throw away capital flight; you throw away significant dollars outside the country,” he said.
Dr Okyere said developing local expertise would help retain foreign exchange, strengthen the industry and enable Ghana to compete more effectively in the global market.
He also said the university was incorporating emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, financial modelling, predictive modelling and data analytics into its programmes to prepare students for future jobs.
The Rector disclosed that graduates would receive a BSc degree jointly issued with the University of Ghana, alongside a professional diploma in insurance administered with an overseas professional body.
He urged parents and prospective students to consider GIUC because of its close links with the industry and the professional opportunities available to graduates.
“The university is owned by the market, so the advantage of getting a job is there. Students here will have added leverage,” he said.
He added that experienced actuaries, statisticians, insurance practitioners, chief executive officers and academics would be involved in teaching and mentoring students.
Dr Okyere said the university’s broader objective was to produce the skilled workforce required to expand insurance coverage and strengthen financial risk management in Ghana.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
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