The training, organised by Continental Reinsurance in collaboration with the Insurance Association of The Gambia (IAG) was held at the West Africa Insurance Institute (WAII) at Kololi.
Makaireh Badjan, the president of IAG and managing director of Royal Insurance Gambia Ltd., said the association believes in building the capacity of their members. He reiterated that they are partnering with the Pan African Reinsurance Company which has supported the Gambia insurance industry for long.
"It's a company that is highly rated by standards. We will deal with reinsurance and accounting because we have a younger generation coming on and need to be very much knowledgeable about reinsurance. The participants are driven from the 11 insurance companies," he revealed.
Ogadinma C. Onwuaduegbo, Continental Reinsurance regional director for West Africa, explained that he joined the company in 2021 and through his interaction with various African markets, he realised there was a gap in certain areas. He said they want to see how to plug those gaps by introducing various topics that would help companies.
With regard to the theme of reserving and technical accounting, he added, they came to help companies with the need to properly reserve.
On technical accounting, he stated: "There is a way to submit treaty accounts and we came to realise that the statements we received are not where we want them to be. We decided to introduce that as the second topic to the Gambian market. The issue is not particularly to the Gambia but it's all over."
He stated that his team is working their way through the various regions they have business relationships with, saying IAG was kind enough to assist them to get this done. He added that this was the reason for choosing The Gambia as number one before moving to the Liberian market and others.
Isatou Sowe, a trainee from Capital Express Insurance Company Ltd., expressed delight for such a great initiative while commending the organisers. She said reinsurance is necessary for today's business.
"It will help us in the manner we get reinsurance done accurately. I urge my fellow participants to take it seriously and hope to see more of such training," she said.
