“When disasters strike, the greatest loss is not only the damage they cause, but the absence of protection to recover with dignity.”

In Ghana, floods and other climate-related disasters sweep through communities with increasing frequency destroying homes, businesses, and livelihoods. Yet, for millions, the greatest shock is not the flood itself, but the struggle to rebuild without any form of financial protection. A recent United Nations Development Programme-Ghana study reveals that around 70% of Ghanaians lack access to insurance. Without this critical safety net, families fall deeper into poverty after every disaster. The protection gap is widening, and with climate shocks intensifying, the urgency to act has never been greater. Inclusive insurance offers a lifeline, designed to protect the most vulnerable against life’s uncertainties. It helps families, smallholder farmers, and informal businesses recover faster from shocks, while enabling governments to manage disaster risk more efficiently.

Since its inception, UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF) has been transforming Ghana’s insurance ecosystem, making protection accessible, affordable, and data-driven. Working closely with the Ministry of Finance (MoF), National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana Insurance College (GIC), Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), Insurance Awareness Coordinators Group (IACG), and partners such as the German Government (BMZ), InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF) and the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), the IRFF has catalysed innovative risk finance mechanisms tailored to Ghana’s evolving climate and development landscape.

A landmark innovation is the parametric flood insurance solution developed under the IRFF, featuring the Excess Rainfall Cover and Flood Footprint Product backed by a Contingency Plan for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). These tools enable rapid payouts based on rainfall thresholds, ensuring that funds reach communities swiftly after disasters moving Ghana from slow, reactive relief to proactive, technology-enabled protection for vulnerable people and public assets. With 4.9 million vulnerable beneficiaries projected, this initiative marks a pivotal shift in how disaster risk is managed across Ghana’s most flood-prone regions whilst supporting other initiatives like the Inclusive Insurance Certification Program, Inclusive Insurance Awareness Clinics and the Inclusive Insurance Innovation Challenge.

As of March 2025, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) covers about 21.08 million members, representing approximately 62.5% of the country’s population. Even with this, fewer than one in five Ghanaians have any other type of insurance as one in every 10 (9.9%) females and more than a quarter (26.6%) males aged 15-49 are not covered by any insurance. The situation is even more critical in the informal sector, which employs over 80% of the workforce, most without financial safety nets. Inclusive insurance isn’t just a social good, it’s an investment in economic stability and resilience. It reduces fiscal pressure on governments, protects small businesses, and ensures that climate impacts do not derail development progress.

Ghana’s Insurance Act 2021 (Act 1061) has been a game changer, establishing frameworks for microinsurance, digital platforms and regulatory sandboxes that encourage innovation. Emerging trends include:

• Digital microinsurance for health, agriculture, and disaster risk coverage.

• Bundled insurance-credit services for smallholder farmers and informal traders.

• Group insurance for cooperatives and informal associations.

• Satellite and IoT data to trigger parametric payouts in real time.

Yet despite this progress, insurance penetration remains below 2% of GDP, underscoring the need for deeper partnerships and financing to scale impact as fewer than 20% of Ghanaians have other insurance policies aside health and life coverage. To bridge Ghana’s protection gap and scale its success regionally, a bold, coordinated approach is needed, anchored in strong partnerships, policy integration, and financing. Key priorities include:

• Policy Integration: Align insurance and risk finance with national climate, social protection, and financial inclusion plans.

• Innovation Finance and Regulatory Simplicity: Fund digital infrastructure, regulatory sandboxes and data ecosystems that enable new products.

• Premium Support Mechanisms: Use blended finance via public-private partnerships to subsidize coverage for vulnerable groups.

• Insurance Literacy: Scale up nationwide campaigns to build public trust and understanding of insurance benefits.

These priorities offer investment-ready entry points for financiers seeking high-impact, scalable climate resilience interventions. The insurance industry must also evolve. Insurers should design simple, flexible, and affordable products that reflect the realities of Ghana. Collaboration with fintech's, cooperatives, civil society organisations and local communities is essential to scale impact.

Through the IRFF, UNDP Ghana remains committed to continue work with government and private sector partners on this insurance journey by:

• Strengthen sovereign and sub-sovereign risk finance systems.

• Promote inclusive insurance clinics, innovation challenges, and certification programs.

• Deploy data-driven solutions using satellite, GIS and mobile technologies.

• Expand mobile-based distribution channels for reach and affordability.

• Support premium subsidies for vulnerable populations under social protection programmes such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.

• Investing in insurance literacy and public awareness across Ghana’s communities.

Inclusive insurance is hiding in plain sight, a proven, scalable tool to safeguard livelihoods, build fiscal resilience, and attract private capital for sustainable development. With the right investment and global collaboration, Ghana can lead Africa’s inclusive insurance revolution, showing how risk finance can protect both people and progress.

If we act decisively today, no Ghanaian should face disaster or uncertainty without protection tomorrow. Let us lead together to insure Ghana’s future.