Continental Reinsurance Corporation, a leading private reinsurance company in Africa, Monday commenced a two-day training designed to specifically increase and improve the knowledge and skills gap in non-life reinsurance in the Gambian insurance industry.
The Nigeria-based pan-African company conducted the training in collaboration with Insurance Association of The Gambia (IAG) at the Seaview Hotel in Kololi.
Speaking on the occasion, Pa Alieu Sillah, Commissioner of Insurance at the Central Bank of The Gambia, said the training demonstrates the strong ties between Nigeria and The Gambia as it is part of efforts at developing the financial systems in Ecowas.
Mr Sillah said the participants of the two-day training will gain technical knowledge and skills to enable their meaningful contribution to the growth and development of their various insurance companies and the economy as a whole.
Steve Odjugo, regional director of Continental Reinsurance, said the Gambia training is part of a series of trainings Continental Reinsurance will be embarking on this year.
“This year, we are having nine trainings in different locations in Africa and this training is one of them,” Mr Odjugo said, adding that all their trainings are tailor-made to the needs of the specific markets they usually hold it.
“We go around visiting the insurance markets in Africa, and from our discussions and engagements with the market we got to know the areas of the business where there is insufficient knowledge in that market,” Mr Odjugo explained.
“When we know of such knowledge gap or gaps in world best practices, we try to bring resources to bridge those gaps, to address those areas of need.”
For the past two years, he noted, they have been talking about the training in The Gambia. Continental Reinsurance Corporation has been finding out what area of need is in the Gambian insurance market it can assist with the requisite knowledge and skills.
“After thorough discussions in different areas, we decided to focus on reinsurance,” he said, adding that they chose reinsurance because it is a very technical subject in insurance.
The training, he also noted, is to bring some aspects of the practice of reinsurance to the knowledge of the participants, which is expected to be of immense benefit to them.
For his part, IAG Secretary General Henry Jawo said Continental Re is not a stranger in the Gambian market.
He pointed out that most of the insurance companies in the country have been doing business with Continental Reinsurance, a company which has been very supportive of the Gambian insurance industry.
“Along the years, we have always had their backings in all endeavours that the Gambian insurance market undergoes; in all endeavours that we find ourselves in Continental Re has always been there for the Gambian insurance industry,” Mr Jawo said.
The resource persons brought in for the training by Continental Reinsurance are experts in their fields, the IAG SG affirmed, saying the experts are ready to share their knowledge of reinsurance with the participants to aid the operations of both insurance companies and reinsurers in The Gambia.
