Background:
Originally the monitoring, supervision and regulation of the Gambia's
insurance industry was under the Finance Ministry whose powers
were given to it by the 1974 Act.
However, the responsibility for the administration of the Act
was given to the Ministry of Justice, to ensure compliance with
the law. The growth in the number of insurance companies called
for the appointment of a commissioner of insurance in 1995 at
the then existing Finance Ministry. In a move to enhance the overall
efficiency of the financial system, the Central Bank was given
the authority by the Constitution
of 1997 to take over the regulation and monitoring of insurance
institutions in The Gambia.
In 1972 there was only 1 insurance company operating in The Gambian
market. This was the Northern Assurance Co. Ltd., later joined
by the Gambia National Insurance Company Limited. The former was
largely foreign owned by the country's colonial masters but was
later transformed into a wholly locally owned insurance company
and had its name changed to Capital
Insurance Co. Ltd.
As for the GNIC it was incorporated in
January 1974 as a subsidiary of The Gambia Commercial and Development
Bank with a number of institutional shareholders. It was The Gambia's
first indigenously incorporated company in this sector. Operating
originally from 78 Wellington Street and, after 1985, it re-located
to its present premises at 5 Leman Street. In 1979 the Government
enacted legislation which established the Gambia National Insurance
Corporation to better ensure monitoring of its activities. In
1989 the Government passed the Repeal Act transforming it from
a corporation to a company in order to allow for its privatisation.
The Senegambia Insurance Company was incorporated in 1981 but
ceased its operations in 1996.
The sectors Association (IAG) was formed
on 11th August, 1987, by 3 institutions operating within the industry's
sector.
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Companies & Legislation:
Presently there are around 12 companies operating in the insurance
sector of The Gambia with the latest addition being in December,
2007, of Takaful
Insurance Company which is run on Islamic (Sharia) principles.
The necessity to bring up-to-date the Insurance Act 1974
led The Central Bank of The Gambia
to substantially overhaul its provisions. This led to the Insurance
Act of 2003 which sought to regulate the business of insurance
in The Gambia and to provide for matters connected therewith.
This regulations set out the basic requirements such as paid up
capital, the amount of solvency margin, deposits for every class
of business, and components of its calculation as well as investment
requirements and other regulations.
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History
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