Dr Angela Lusigi, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Ghana, has called on stakeholders in the insurance industry to create accessible and affordable insurance solutions to build resilience in the face of increasing disaster risks.

She said while disaster risks were on the increase, there was huge protection gap in developing countries, where less than five per cent of disaster losses were covered by insurance.

“COVID-19 has exposed our vulnerability, and I believe insurance and risk finance is one of the tools available to us in supporting society to build back better,” she added.

Dr Lusigi made these remarks during a UNDP stakeholders’ closing workshop on a “Diagnostic Report for Inclusive Insurance and Risk Financing in Ghana.”

The report identified the current state and opportunities in the inclusive insurance and risk finance environment in Ghana.

Dr Lusigi said the workshop was to seek inputs from stakeholders in insurance industry on how to ensure that people had access to inclusive insurance and financing.

She reiterated that the public having access to this was imminent, saying, “how we deal with and respond to disasters is critical in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

She said: “It is estimated that the potential market for inclusive insurance alone is at least 4 billion people, representing a protection gap of quite staggering proportions.”

“So, increasing affordable access to insurance and risk financing has a critical role to play in delivering the SDGs and reducing the impact of weather, climate induced disasters on development,” he added.

Dr Geraldine Abaidoo, Consultant of the project, said the basic aim of inclusive insurance was to provide insurance to all, especially the vulnerable and from the report there was 70 per cent of people who were not on insurance.

She said they observed that the insurance packages was inadequate for such people and could not meet their needs.

“The basic needs of inclusive insurance that the UNDP is advocating is to ensure insurance packages are fashioned to the needs of the people, particularly those in informal sector,” she added.