Welcome to Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda

IGP was already represented in Africa through our partnerships with Swan Life Ltd. (Mauritius) and Old Mutual (Kenya, Namibia and South Africa). We are now further enlarging our footprint to Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda:

IGP is pleased to welcome these four new IGP Network Partners, which are all part of the Old Mutual Limited group, a premium African financial services group that offers life protection, general insurance, savings, investments, and lending services to 11.3 million customers in 14 countries across Africa and China.

Effective January 1, 2024, employee benefits plans covering group life and rider benefits in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda can also be included in IGP accounts. 

Source: Databank - World Development Indicators^*

Social protection

Source: International Labour Organization - Social Protection - Ghana¹

An employee benefits plan for subsidiaries of multinationals in the Ghanaian market typically covers two components:

• Group life with funeral expenses cover

  This provides a worldwide and 24/7 cover for death, personal accident, critical illness and funeral expenses of the employee. The benefit amount is linked to multiples of the Annual Salaries of employees (1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X etc.), which is decided upon by the employer.

• Workers’ compensation cover

  This covers all financial liabilities of the employer under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1987 (PNDCL 187).
  Large organizations as well as white collar companies typically opt for plans with death, personal accident, critical illness, funeral expenses, travel insurance and workers’ compensation. Blue collar organizations usually opt for plans with death, personal accident, critical illness and workmen’s compensation cover.

Old Mutual has been operating in Ghana since 2013 and offers a one-stop shop for all customer insurance needs by providing an array of insurance products. Old Mutual Life Ghana is one of the leading providers for employee benefit solutions in the Ghanaian life insurance market. 

• Strong financial capacity – Old Mutual Life (Ghana) leverages on the financial strength of Old Mutual Group as well as world class reinsurers to offer solid risk and protection solutions to customers.
• High level standards & customer satisfaction – Old Mutual Life (Ghana) adopts high level standards in its service delivery to customers, committing to meet and exceed expectations.
• Cohesive financial services – Old Mutual's insurance and savings solutions are designed to realize comprehensive business goals.
• A responsible business – Corporate responsibility is deeply ingrained in their ethos. They strive to positively impact the societies in which they operate.

Social protection

Source: International Labour Organization - Social Protection - Nigeria³

Social protection for Nigerian citizens is low. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Pension Commission (PenCom), and the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSTIF) are the three main contributory social security schemes that provide coverage for health, employment injury, survivor, and old age contingencies. The majority of those covered, work in the formal sector. Reaching the most vulnerable and impoverished citizens of the nation is the main goal of a nation-wide social aid program.

The government and its social protection partners have made significant progress in the past few years towards creating a social protection floor with the aim of extending social protection to all Nigerian residents:

• The National Social Investment Program (NSIP), a platform for social aid coordination that serves as the administrative arm of a sizable federal and state-level social safety net program.
• A significant reform of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was started through the approval of the National Health Insurance Authority Act in 2022, which makes health insurance mandatory for all Nigerians (goal to have universal health coverage by 2030). 

• The development of a digital national identity system aims to connect citizens with social government services, ensuring financial inclusion for all in the long run.

Employee Benefit Solutions may include the following:

• Mandatory Group Life Insurance Policy
• Employers Compensation policy administered by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund.

The mandatory group life insurance policy mandates every employer of labor to take up this policy for its employees and cuts across all industries and sectors. The benefit is to be linked to the annual total emoluments (ATE) for each employee. The intended payout benefit should be a minimum of 3 times ATE at any given instance.

The finance, manufacturing, and telecommunications industries and public sector commonly adhere to the 3 times minimum requirement, while in the oil and gas industry, it is typical to offer 5 times minimum requirement.

One of the criteria for receiving the compliance certificate from PenCom is having an active Group Life Assurance policy in place. Compliance levels are hard to estimate but a list of organizations with compliance certificates is publicly available on the Pencom website. 

Old Mutual has been operating in Nigeria since 2013. They provide a wide range of financial solutions to individuals, SMEs, and corporates across several market segments by offering:

• Employee benefits: Their range of solutions which includes life and disability benefits is geared at enhancing the welfare of employees, empowering and keeping them motivated to always give their best. Old Mutual’s offerings include the mandatory group life insurance policy with extensions covering critical illness, disability and funeral costs.
• Savings and protection: Their innovative life assurance-based product solutions address both protection and savings needs, as well as short-term insurance solutions.
• Investment: They grow customers’ savings and wealth through active and direct asset management with the Old Mutual Investment Group. 
• General Insurance: Old Mutual offers personalized insurance solutions that are tailored to the individual needs of their customers.
• Financial wellness: They also aim to deepen the financial knowledge of Nigerians by providing free Financial Education workshops to organizations, associations, and groups.

The Old Mutual Group has operated in Malawi since the late 1930's when sales were being done through the Old Mutual office in Salisbury (now Harare). Old Mutual opened its first office in Malawi in 1954, which operated as a mutual life insurance company until 1997 when the Old Mutual Group demutualized.

The support of the Old Mutual Group provides access to global expertise and financial strength and stability.

As the first life insurance company in Malawi, they understand the Malawi environment. With strong governance principles and experience, they are commited to delivering service with integrity and respect while being accountable and always striving to push beyond their boundaries:

• Professional client-specific advice on a complete range of pensions, life assurance and investment products through a highly qualified team of CFAs (Chartered Financial Analysts) and Actuaries
• Reliable and state of the art IT systems in place
• Distribution and service channels integrated to deliver a one stop service
• Simplified and tested business procedures
• Quality service supported by a Service Level Agreement contract
• Proven track record in managing large funds
• Able to pay claims within the agreed Service Level Agreement