Yemisi Izuora
The first ever sub regional insurance journal, covering West Africa has been launched. The maiden edition of AM Journal was launched and circulated at the 2024 edition of the annual conference of the West Africa Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) which was hosted in Accra, Ghana last week.
The new magazine is a collaboration between some of the most renown specialized insurance industry journalists in Anglophone West Africa and the Accra headquartered WAICA Secretariat.
WAICA itself comprises of insurance firms headquartered in English speaking West Africa, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Liberia. The editorial team is headed by prime Nigerian journalists, Roland Valentine Okoro and Joshua Eduona, as well as Ghana’s trail blazer in that field, Elliot Williams.
Subscriptions have already been attracted from Nigeria, Ghana and The Gambia. Interestingly, though, the journal has already proven its potential to penetrate into the pan subregional francophone insurance industry. Indeed, a reinsurance company with its head office located at Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire has embraced the initiative.
The new magazine presents both a full colour hard copy edition printed in full colour on glossy art paper to ensure excellent colour reproduction and shelf life longevity befitting of an international periodic professional insurance industry journal, and a digital edition which ensures easy accessibility to its contents all around the world.
The maiden edition focuses on the “Women in WAICA”, identifying, profiling and documenting the professional, technical and corporate governance contributions of a cross section of the leading ladies in the respective insurance sectors of WAICA’s member countries.
This provides an invaluable insight into some of the most important women in the insurance industry of Anglophone West Africa, many of whom have operated outside the public spotlight despite the invaluable nature of the contributions to the industry.
“Talking about ‘Women in WAICA,’ AM Journal is projecting women in various leadership roles in the insurance industry across the sub region” asserts Roland Okoro, the journal’s Editor-In-Chief. “Specifically we have featured women in all segments of insurance operations , underwriting, marketing, business development, human capital management, corporate communications, finance and corporate services. Even the company secretaries, and those engaged in information technology, internal control and lecturing are well captured. Women providing brokerage services and those in industry associations are also mentioned.”
Indeed the maiden edition has been dedicated to women who are distinguishing themselves in the insurance industry across Anglophone West Africa.
Considering the sheer quality of its editorial content and its printing as well as the reach of its circulation, AM Journal will capture both the West African insurance industry itself, and its clients and wider stakeholders.