The Impact of COVID-19 on Emerging Insurance Industry: The Ghanaian Evidence

Abstract

This study explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operational and financial performance of the Ghanaian insurance industry using secondary and quantitative data from NIC, in a quarterly form from year 2018 to first quarter of 2021. Using descriptive, graphical and trend analysis, the findings of the study uncover the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operational and financial performance growth of the insurance industry and options for policy recommendations. More specifically, the findings show that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of policy holders in both life and non-life declined as well as the value of both life and non-life policy underwritten by insurance firms. Moreover, there was a higher rate of decline in the life aspect of underwritten policy than that of the non-life. Also, both of life and non-life gross premiums experienced a dip in performance growth in the COVID-19 era which can be attributed to the decline in the number of policy holders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the value of total assets for both life and non-life segment of the industry experienced a declining growth rate within the survey period, while investment growth and performance of the insurance industry was also negatively impacted for both life and non-life consistently despite some periods of ups and downs. With respect to the operational aspect of the insurance industry, the findings show that claims benefits paid had declined consistently in the pandemic period whereas managerial efficiency in terms of management expenses had declined with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and this may suggest a general level of improvement in the managerial efficiency in the industry. Policy recommendations for future studies were offered.