The National Insurance Commission (NIC) has launched a public awareness campaign on annuities as a financial tool for retirement planning in Accra.
Annuities are insurance contracts that provide a fixed income stream for a person’s lifetime or a specified period of time.
An annuity can be purchased with a lump sum or a series of payments and begin paying out almost immediately or at some point in the future.
The campaign, organised in collaboration with German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and other key stakeholders is to sensitise the Ghanaian public on annuities.
Speaking at the event yesterday, Kofi Andoh, Deputy Commissioner of Insurance, NIC, said, the NIC introduced the annuity product in response to concerns by pensioners on receiving low pensions which could not support their lifestyle.
Most of the pensioners live in either uncompleted buildings, or were still renting while others had their children schooling, which put a lot of pressure ontheir finances.
He said the annuity was, thus, a long-term investment designed to help protect pensioners from the risk of outliving their income.
Currently, the NIC, MrAndoh noted, was building the regulatory framework to support the rollout of annuities and ensure an efficient market.
As a new insurance product on the market, he said the sensitisation was aimed at informing the public about the benefits of annuities.
“Annuities is a financial tool that can significantly help in mitigating the risk of an unstable income flow during retirement.
The benefits associated with annuities cannot be overemphasised: financial security, liquidity, guaranteed lifetime income supply, maintenance of lifestyle, and ability to cope with unforeseen and unplanned expenses,” he added.
Mr Edward Edman Biney, Assistant Manager of Standards and Compliance, National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), said the Authority had already engaged the few annuities provider approved by the NIC as part of its activities to ensure compliance with the provisions on annuities to retirees and its vision to ensure retirement income security of workers in Ghana.
With the current private pensions asset under management hitting GH¢40 billion as at end of2021, he called on the approved life annuity underwriters to take advantage of the demand created by the pensions Act to make the special initiative a success.
He assured the NIC of the Authority’s collaboration seeking the common good of Ghanaian retirees, the financial sector development and the economy.
Head of the Programme for Sustainable EconomicDevelopment at GIZ-Ghana, Detlev Axel Jahn said, GIZ was collaborating with NIC to run the campaign for two months, from October to November this year.
He said the annuity product would bring a lot of value to the entire insurance industry and pledged GIZ-Ghana’s support to the insurance industry for projects and collective measures benefiting stakeholders.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
