The insurance industry in Ghana has been charged to design more innovative products to help mobilise savings that could be used for long term investments.

Dr. Albert Asamoah Baah, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, made this call at the official launch of the Insurance Awareness Month in Accra on Monday.

He observed that life insurance, as against non-life insurance, appeared to be falling behind in terms of coverage, adding that the comparative figures appear to indicate a growing appetite for new life products.

He thus charged the group to design more life assurance products which are easily accessible and affordable, to bring on board the huge portion of the population who are still ignorant of the inherent benefits of insuring themselves and their dependants.

He acknowledged that the insurance industry had contributed immensely to the development of the economy over the years, by providing various insurance protections, adding that certain business entrepreneurs had ventured into areas they would hitherto not expose their capital to.

The Commissioner of the Ghana Insurance Commission, Josephine Amoah, however bemoaned the low insurance penetration, which currently stands at 1.3% of GDP.

She noted that the two most popular classes of insurance remain motor and health, while very little is known about the other classes of insurance in the country.

"This indeed is worrying, since insurance plays a key role in the development of the economy, through its risk mitigation and fund mobilisation functions," she noted.

She was optimistic that the program outlined for the month would help create the needed awareness about insurance.

The President of the Ghana Insurers Association, Mr. Benjamin Acolatse, also touched on the crucial role of the industry in the development of Ghana's oil find, the construction of the Bui Dam, and the recent turmoil in the world's financial sector.

He recalled the annual fire outbreaks in the various markets across the country, and called for an all stakeholder approach to help create the needed awareness of the industry's positive contribution towards national development efforts.