Tuesday 8 September 2015

WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR INSURANCE, MALLAM MOHAMMED KARI AT THE MMoU SIGNING CEREMONY AMONG THE WEST AFRICAN INSURANCE SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY HELD AT NAICOM HEAD OFFICE, GARKII, ABUJA ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 03, 2015.


Protocol,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this formal signing of the Memorandum of Understanding amongst the National Insurance Commission (Ghana), Central Bank of Liberia, National Insurance Commission (Nigeria), Sierra-Leone Insurance Commission & Central Bank of the Gambia. Let me express my appreciation to the Chief Executives for their commitment and dedication towards the development and conclusion of this multilateral agreement.

The objective of this MMoU is to formalize the relationship among the parties in strengthening cross border insurance supervision through information sharing and mutual cooperation, which are in conformity with International Association of Insurance Supervision (IAIS) principles.

As you may already know, the regulators are active members of AIO and some are also members of IAIS which emphasizes the importance of these type of arrangements for cooperation and information sharing.

This MMOU underlines NAICOM’s goal to build effective working relationships with regulators in the West African region and beyond.

The importance of this agreement is further buttressed by the fact that NAICOM is the home regulator of many subsidiary insurance companies authorized by Ghana, Liberia, Sierra-Leone and the Gambia to conduct insurance business. These subsidiary companies include NEM Insurance, Regency Alliance, Equity Assurance, Wapic Insurance, Staco Insurance, and Capital Express Assurance. The increased activities of these Nigerian Insurance companies in West Africa makes the National Insurance Commission (Ghana), Central Bank of Liberia, Sierra-Leone Insurance Commission & Central Bank of the Gambia our important regulatory allies.

It is my belief that with the signing of this MMOU, the cross-border supervision amongst Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra-Leone and the Gambia will now be greatly enhanced. This multilateral cooperation is timely and important. We are pleased to have the National Insurance Commission (Ghana), Central Bank of Liberia, Sierra-Leone Insurance Commission & Central Bank of the Gambia as our MMoU partners and look forward to our mutual assistance in the promotion of international standards to foster favourable investment environments and orderly markets in West Africa.

The MMOU will also help us to effectively communicate with each other in addressing such fraud across jurisdictions in compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on Anti-Money Laundering.

Insurance in the whole of Africa has been characterised by low penetration and poor contribution to the African financial growth in most countries, therefore maintaining efficient, fair, safe and stable insurance market in the West African region must be promoted for the benefit of the policy holders.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me reiterate that the signing of this multilateral agreement is not only creating the condition for closer relationship amongst us but will go a long way in promoting cooperation and assistance amongst the insurance regulators.

Once again, I welcome you all to this occasion.

Thank you.


Mohammed Kari
Commissioner for Insurance

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