All Posts in "Day: October 20, 2020"

Arik Air, others cancel flights

Arik Air has announced the suspension of it flights due to the 24 hour curfew imposed on Lagos State by the Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo- Olu.

This is just as some foreign airlines have also announced cancellation of flights due to the current protest and unrest in the country.

The airline Communication Manager, Mr Adebanji Ola yesterday said : “Arik Air has cancelled all its flight operations for Wednesday, October 21, 2020 in compliance to the 24 hours curfew announced by the Lagos State government on Tuesday, October 20, 2020”.

“All booked passengers on the cancelled flights are advised to reschedule their flights for later dates at no extra cost”

The Lagos State government announced a 24 hours curfew effective 4:00pm October 20, 2020″.

Recall the 24 hour curfew took effect yesterday, Tuesday throughout the state to forestall further burning of government and private properties.

Thugs have infetrated and hijacked the protest that started peacefully throughout the country.

Other airlines might likely join in the cancellation of flights as prospective passengers will not be able to access the Airports.

Meanwhile, some foreign airlines have announced the suspension of flights to Nigeria due to the current protest. United States owned airline, Delta, in its advisory said flight DL248 ATLLOS for October 19, 2020 scheduled to arrive LOS on Tuesday Oct 20, 2020 will not operate due to the 24-hour curfew imposed by the Lagos State Government.

According to the airline, “Consequently, Flight DL249 LOSATL scheduled to operate today October 20, 2020 has also been canceled. Further details on flight operations will be duly communicated. We truly regret any inconvenience”

Also Ghana based airline, Africa World Airlines (AWA) yesterday said due to “curfew in Lagos, tonight, we will cancel flights for October 20 and October 21, 2020”.

The airline further said that it would be monitoring the situation and will be updating passengers

Kenya Airways has also cancelled flights to the country. The airline said : ” We regret to inform you that KQ533 scheduled to depart 21/Oct/2020 from LOS – NBO has been canceled due to the 24Hrs curfew imposed by the Lagos State Government”

“We implore you to communicate with your guests as soon as you can. Thank you for your patience and understanding”, the airline added.

It also said in a statement that it was planning to send out another communication with regards to “re-protection and flight operations for the affected guests” as soon as they have an update.

Patoma Admin by — October 20, 2020 in Aviation 0
Senate confirms Aisha Dahir-Umar as substantive PenCom DG

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, as the substantive Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

Another nominee who was also confirmed by the Senate was Dr Oyindasola Oluremi Oni, from North Central as Chairman.

Also confirmed were Clement Akintola (South-West); Ayim Nyerere (South-East) and Charles Emukowhale (South-South), as commissioners of the PenCom board.

The Senate, however, rejected the confirmation of Hannatu Musa (North-West) because she was unable to present her discharge certificate from the National Youths Service Corps.

Until her confirmation, Dahir-Umar, from the North-East geopolitical zone, held the position in acting capacity.

Patoma Admin by — October 20, 2020 in Others 0
SEC Sets January 2021 for Implementation of Corporate Governance Guidelines

The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has issued a Corporate Governance Guidelines (SCGG) and a template (revised Form 01) for reporting compliance with the Securities which becomes effective from January 2021

Par of the Guidelines indicate that Membership of the Board shall not be less than five (5) and to safeguard the independence of the Board, not more than two members of the same family shall sit on the Board of a public company at the same time

The guidelines also stipulate that in appointing a person to the Board, Shareholders should be provided with information on any real or potential conflict of interest, including whether a proposed appointee is an interlocking director, adding “The letters of appointment should cover the following: Synopsis of Director’s rights; Director evaluation programme used by the company, and Any other contractual responsibilities”.

On sustainability, the guideline stated “Companies shall recognise corruption as a major threat to business and to national development and therefore as a sustainability issue for businesses in Nigeria. Companies, Boards and individual directors must commit themselves to transparent dealings and to the establishment of a culture of integrity and zero tolerance to corruption and corrupt practices.

“In order to foster good corporate governance, companies shall engage in increased disclosure beyond the statutory requirements in the CAMA”.

In a bid to minimise risk in the operations of companies, the guidelines states that the annual risk-based internal audit plan shall: address the broad range of risks facing the company, linking this to a risk management framework; ii. identify audit priority areas and areas of greatest threat to the company; indicate how assurance will be provided on the company’s risk management process; and indicate the resources and skills available or required to achieve the plan.

Recall that the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) of 2018 issued by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria effectively replaced the Code of Corporate Governance for public companies issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The FRC had also issued a template for reporting compliance with the NCCG 2018

According to the SEC, “Public Companies are by this circular advised to comply with the requirements of the NCCG 2018 and also note that compliance with the SCGG/revised reporting template is mandatory”

Patoma Admin by — October 20, 2020 in Industry, Trade & Investment 0
Nigeria’s Insurance Market Offers Significant Potential Despite Headwinds, A.M.Best

Insurance market in the country is said to have a developmental potentials of growth going by its increasing population and its position as Africa’s largest economy  according to a new report from ratings agency AM Best.

The agency though regretted that insurance industry in the region failed to catch in the the potentials but the industry will use the mandatory insurance to speed up its growth

In a new Best’s Market Segment Report: Nigeria’s Insurance Market Offers Significant Potential Despite Headwinds, AM Best notes that, due to the Covid-19-driven economic slowdown, the insurance market regulator, the National Insurance Commission (Naicom), has agreed to further delay its revised plans to strengthen market capitalisation and limit the volume of premium flowing out of the country.

“Nigeria has failed to deliver on that potential historically, due in part to the volatility of growth in the country’s real gross domestic product, coupled with the sporadic enforcement of mandatory retail insurance lines”

AM Best warns: “If Naicom strictly enforces the new requirements, smaller insurers will face significant pressure to merge with larger players.”

But overall, it believes successful implementation of the capital standards “would be favourable for the sector, as they should drive a market-wide strengthening of capital adequacy”.

It suggests: “Market consolidation and the resultant reduction in competition should help alleviate fierce pricing pressure and improve underwriting discipline.”

Patoma Admin by — October 20, 2020 in Insurance 0
Allianz wins top insurance brand for 2nd time

Allianz has emerged as the top insurance brand in the world for the second consecutive time, according to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands Ranking.

Chief Executive Officer of Allianz SE, Mr. Oliver Bäte, said the company’s focus on resilience, integrity and customer centricity is paying off. 

“Allianz has once again been recognized as #1 insurance brand globally, which is fantastic news and confirms that we are on the right track,”.

“We are immensely proud to be the #1 insurance brand, and to have secured our place on the Top 40 Best Global Brands list”

Interbrand publishes the Best Global Brands report on an annual basis. Each year’s report aims to identify the world’s 100 most valuable brands. Interbrand’s brand valuation method was the first to receive ISO 10668 certification.

To qualify, brands must be publicly listed and have a global presence. Brands are then evaluated following the economic profit that can be allocated to branded sales, the role of brand, i.e. the extent to which the brand influences the buying decision, and finally the brand’s strength, which is established over ten different internal and external factors of brand performance.

IHead of Brand & Partnerships at Allianz SE, Mr Christian Deuringer said in just ten years, Allianz has moved from 67th place on the list with a value of $4.9 billion in 2010 to 39th place with a value of almost $13 billion in 2020. While half the brands in the Top 100 failed to grow this year, Allianz’s brand valuation increased by 7 percent despite the crisis, taking it to $12.935 billion” 

Deuringer state, “We have set ourselves a goal to become a Top 25 brand by 2025.”

For Allianz, the ranking is more than an encouraging sign of the brand’s growing strength. It also points to Allianz’s increasing role in people’s lives.

Group Strategy, Marketing, Distribution Officer Allianz SE, Serge Raffard  noted, “During Covid-19, we extremely hard to deliver on our promise and beyond, taking on an even greater role in the lives of our customers, our employees and our communities, helping secure the future, and giving our customers courage in these difficult times”.

“Our customer centricity and resilience allow us to benchmark ourselves against brands across industries. The diversity of what we offer, for example, with health services like Doctor on Call, or Chat with Allianz Partners, had an immense impact during the pandemic and made the difference”. 

Raffard added. “We are now up to higher summits with our Olympic partnership kicking off worldwide on January 1st, 2021. And we look forward to many more milestones

Patoma Admin by — October 20, 2020 in Others 0
Ivorian insurance market generated 390.69 bn FCFA in 2019

The Côte d’Ivoire Association of Insurance Companies (ASACI) announced that the Ivorian insurers generated a turnover of 390.69 billion FCFA (666.99 million USD), an 8.6% increase compared to the 359.74 billion FCFA (627.28 million USD) recorded in 2018.

Non-life premiums rose by 8.29% to be set at 222.41 billion FCFA (379.7 million USD), that is 56.93% of the market share. The non-life activity is dominated by the motor activity followed by the personal accident and health classes of business which represent respectively 18.64% and 18.28% of the total turnover.

With a 43.07% market share, life insurance totalled 168.28 billion FCFA (287.29 million USD) in premiums, thus increasing by 9.02% compared to late 2018. With a turnover of 6.77 billion FCFA (96.92 million USD).

SAHAM Assurance takes the lead on the companies’ ranking. SUNU Vie and NSIA Vie stand in the second and third positions with respectively.

Patoma Admin by — October 20, 2020 in Insurance 0