All Posts in "Month: December 2020"

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Kenya Airways and Air France-KLM Group said on Saturday that they had agreed to mutually terminate their Africa-Europe joint venture partnership from September, 2021.

The Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Airways, Allan Kilavuka, explained that the Kenyan carrier will continue to serve the European market through its gateways of London, Paris, Amsterdam with Rome slated for resumption from 2021.

“This development allows Kenya Airways to offer additional options and convenience to our customers connecting through our European gateways.

”This is in line with our goal of supporting the recovery of international tourism in Kenya and connecting Africa to the World, and the World to Africa,” Kilavuka said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The two airlines had previously suspended the joint venture cooperation for the calendar year 2020 mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent unpredictability of return to normalcy in operations.

Kilavuka said these routes (Africa and Europe) will be served by onward codeshares from the Air France-KLM group and additionally with an ever-expanding network of European carriers including Alitalia, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Airlines amongst others.

Kenya Airways is a member of the SkyTeam alliance and the loyalty programme will continue to apply on all the partner flights.

Frequent flyers will, therefore, continue earning and redeeming miles, while Elite Plus travellers are benefiting from SkyPriority services.

Kenya Airways operates more than 70 flights a day and flies to over 53 destinations worldwide, 43 of which are in Africa.-Xinhua

Patoma Admin by — December 21, 2020 in Aviation 0

By admin


The Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria (SEC Nigeria) and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa have  announced the start of a joint review of Nigeria’s 10-year Capital Markets Master Plan (CMMP) to support the country’s economic resilience amid new economic challenges including lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The review of the CMMP will see SEC Nigeria work with FSD Africa’s Regulator Support Programme to develop a revised 10-year CMMP that will strengthen Nigeria’s capital markets’ and their capacity for capital mobilization. The CMMP provides a vision for Nigeria’s capital market, as well as a roadmap with objectives to meet it.

The process will involve an assessment of progress made since the plan’s implementation to date and engaging with stakeholders for input. This will result in the introduction of more stringent tools to measure the plans progress against objectives, and the inclusion of new challenges, opportunities and risks related to the current environment into the plan.

The review of the CMMP comes in response to changes in the economic and market circumstances upon which the plan was originally based on when launched in 2015, that needed updating to match the current environment. These include the effects of lower oil prices on Nigeria’s economy as well as a slowdown in economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The introduction of new initiatives and products will help to improve the liquidity and depth of Nigeria’s capital markets.

FSD Africa’s support comes as part of its ongoing multi-country programme to strengthen Africa’s capital markets. The programme is centred on the development of capital markets master plans, conducting institutional capacity assessments, and creating capacity for sustainable finance such as green bonds, helping markets to adapt to their operating climate.

The Director Capital Markets at FSD Africa,Mr Evans Osano said, “This review will give market stakeholders in Nigeria a unique opportunity to not only take stock of the plan’s results so far, but also to grow and respond to previously unforeseen economic developments. As FSD Africa works to support and regulate financial markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, we are excited to be partnering with SEC Nigeria to enable them to strengthen the country’s capital markets during a time of immense upheaval.”

The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission Nigeria, Lamido Yuguda stated, “The implementation of the Capital Market Master Plan will deepen our market and improve the capital market’s contribution to our economic growth and national development. To this end, the review of the Capital Market Master Plan better positions the SEC to deliver on these objectives in these very challenging times. The FSD Africa and SEC Nigeria’s laudable partnership underscores our mutual goals to build financial markets that are robust, efficient and above all inclusive”

Patoma Admin by — December 19, 2020 in Banking & Finance 0

By Favour Nnabugwu

THE LATEST COUPLE, AGHOGHO & VERNON EBEGBONI

L Deacon Edith Okowa, wife of Delta State

Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, Vernon and Aghogho’ Ebegboni, the newly wedded couple and the Governor. Ifeanyi Okowa and Father of the Governor, Pa Authur Okorie Okowa after the wedding ceremony at St Phillip’ s Anglican Church in Asaba, Delta State today

L- Vernon and Aghogho’ Ebegboni after the wedding at the Church today

Patoma Admin by — December 19, 2020 in Metro 0

By admin

SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc, has successfully completed the first phase of its recapitalisation plan by increasing shareholders’ fund to N6.61 billion in 2020 from N3.47 billion in 2019.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr Samuel Ogbogu stated that the increase in shareholders’ fund represents a 90 per cent growth after share reconstruction and capital injection of N3.01 billion.

Ogbodu said that in spite economic challenges, the firm has continued to grow its market share, stressing that the firm will close the year 2020 with a premium production of at least N3.15 billion, as against closing year 2019 with premium production of N2.24 billion, which represents a growth rate of 40 per cent due to the restructuring initiatives and strategic business transformation carried out in recent quarters to mitigate the effect of economic challenges.

He maintained that the company will close the year with claims pay-out of N1.29 billion in 2020, while its underwriting profit grew to N1.22 billion in 2020 from N781 million in 2019, presenting a growth of 56.2 pep cent, which was due to improved technical efficiency in business operations.

According to him, “Bulk of the claims came from oil & gas and motor. He posited that due to the firm’s prompt response to claims settlement, old and new policyholders have being flocking to the firm to underwrite their risks”

“We have continued to focus on our strategic strengthens, centred on our technologically differentiated service delivery and delivery and operation.

“We are also continued to focus our technologically differentiated service deliver and operations. We are also bringing the company more in-like with initiatives that will delight our customers, which are geared towards being a customer-centric company with firm aspirations of achieving sustained and orderly growth in the coming years,” he said.

The SUNU boss, posited that the company is embarking on the growth phase while it remains committed to its strategic objectives and core values, which will also guide the future and culture of the company.

He maintained that the firm has concluded plans to inject N3.5 billion into its kitties through right issue which will be activated by March 2020.

He said business renewal by clients of the company has been awesome, adding that the excellent performance being recorded in renewal process is due to the excellent service offered by the firm.

Patoma Admin by — December 18, 2020 in Insurance 0

By admin

Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc has projected 40 per cent rise in 2021, following the investment of its new owner, Verod Capital Management.

Verod has been injecting quite a number of initiatives as their human capital, rebranding, product innovation and technology have all improved.the company since it came in October

Verod, an Anglophone company has various interest in other insurance companies, Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), Emzor Pharmaceutical Company, technological companies, CSCS Plc, farms, among others.
Law Union, a General Business company has indicated that this is the best deal ever for the company within the insurance sector in terms of recapitalisation.

The Managing Director of Law Union, Mayowa Adeduro in an interview with journalists said the company has gone far on their recapitalization plans.

He disclosed that they are short of inviting the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to come and certify them okay, based on the commission’s planned verification exercise scheduled from December 31, 2020.

He stated that the commission gave a mandatory deadline for the completion of the first phase of 50 percent and 60 percent of the minimum paid-up share capital for insurance and reinsurance companies, which they have met.

“When our regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) announced the recapitalization exercise, our board and management took it very seriously. We launched out very early looking for two options, merger and acquisition or a buyout. The merger and acquisition did not work out, but the buyout worked out. We were able to get Verod Capital who invested in Law Union and Rock and buy out the previous ownership of the company.

“So, as we are speaking, Verod Capital owns Law union and rock 100 percent through schemes of arrangement which were well publicized. Since their coming in October this year, they have been injecting quite a number of initiatives for us particularly human capital, rebranding, product innovation and technology. We are very glad. They have also been part of business acquisition too in terms of business development. They have been up and doing. As we speak, we are at the threshold of N11 billion naira and we are short of inviting NAICOM to come and do our verification”, he added.

He stressed that by next year, Law union will be in the threshold of 20 billion in terms of capital base while the asset base will be far in essence of 30 billion based on the projection.

He revealed that the entire structure of Tangerine Life and ARM Life which were also acquired by Verod will also serve Law Union positively, as the entire group would be able to work together seamlessly.

Patoma Admin by — December 18, 2020 in Insurance 0
Africa Re affirms A rating from A.M. Best

Africa Reinsurance Corporation has been awarded AM Best financial rating of A (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of ‘A’. The rating firm also said the outlook of these credit ratings is stable.

According to AM Best, the ratings reflect ARC’s balance sheet strength which it categorised as strongest, coming after is its strong operating performance, favourable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

The strength of its balance sheet is earned by its adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR).

To retain its capital position, ARC will be supported by high earnings retention, a conservative investment allocation and low underwriting leverage. Besides, ARC has significant exposure to the high levels of economic, political and financial system risk that are associated with operating in the African region.

However, the company is considered to be able to offset this risk partially through its geographical diversification and conservative asset management strategy, with a significant proportion of surplus assets held in North America and Europe, the rating agency asserts.

ARC’s long-term operating performance has been strong, despite challenging market conditions, evidenced by its five-year (2015-2019) weighted average return on equity (ROE) of 9.9 percent. However, AM Best cleared that ROE should be viewed in the context of ARC’s reporting currency, the US Dollar, which somewhat limits the impact of the high local inflation on the company’s reported net income.

The rating company said ARC has demonstrated solid non-life underwriting performance, posting a five-year (2015-2019) weighted average combined ratio of 94.2%. However , underwriting results deteriorated in 2018 and 2019, with non-life combined ratios of 97.9% and 97.4% respectively.

The expectation that the company’s performance will improve over the medium term as the management team continues to implement corrective measures is not cast in iron, 2020 is likely to be another challenging year, the x-ray provided by the agency shows.

ARC’s privileged market access as a composite reinsurer across Africa, and brand recognition, provides it with solid long-term growth prospects as the region’s insurance markets develop. AM Best considers ARC’s ERM framework to be suitable given the size and complexity of its operations.

Patoma Admin by — December 18, 2020 in Insurance 0

The government of Zimbabwe enacted a new legislation governing insurance companies and pension funds.

The terms of the regulation enunciate that insurers and pension funds may now conduct business in foreign currencies. The measure has been taken with the aim to protect the sector from hyperinflation.

In 2019, the authorities imposed the exclusive use of the Zimbabwean dollar in local transactions, despite the US dollar-denominated policies.

Having been pressured by local insurers, the Zimbabwean Insurance Regulatory Authority (IPEC) has decided to authorize U.S-dollar policies.

The insurance industry in Zimbabwe continues to offer very limited real growth potential.

The Covid-19 pandemic,though relatively contained in the country, has nonetheless had a major economic impact due to nationwide restrictions onmovement and disruption to trade, deepening Zimbabwe’s recession in 2020 and delaying any prospect of recovery.

High unemployment and informal employment rates mean many households are still excluded from traditional covers while very lowaverage income rates will keep the focus on only the most basic product lines.

Patoma Admin by — December 17, 2020 in Insurance 0

The Insurance Authority (IA) is introducing a system of telematics technology on drivers’ vehicles in the United Arab Emirates.

Motor insurers are offering a discount of up to 10% of premiums to drivers who install telematics in their vehicles.

The technology, which appeared in the early 2000s, enables insurers to monitor and evaluate the drivers’ behavior.

The authority’s objective is to limit accidents and the number of fatalities on the Federation’s roads.

Motor insurance tech start-up Motori is working to bring vehicle owners, insurers, road assistance companies and repair shops together on an artificial intelligence-enabled digital platform.

The aim is to take the hassle out of the accident claims process and to automate processes between industry stakeholders, allowing customers to handle and track every step of the process online from the comfort of their homes or offices, reported

Mr Ahmed Eissa, co-founder and chief executive of Motori, saw a technology gap in the insurance industry, especially in the post-insurance sale process. There are plenty of apps and platforms serving customers before a policy is sold. However, there was no technology to handle remote, post-sale interaction between industry stakeholders.

Mr Eissa said, “We are trying to minimise the effort and interactions of vehicle owners with others, especially these days when staying at home and [minimal] contact with others is most important.”

“We are also enabling remote working for insurance companies [and other industry stakeholders] helping them to communicate with the vehicle owners online.”

“The COVID-19 crisis emphasises the importance of technology,” he added.

Services

The venture was conceived in January and the start-up was fully incorporated in March. It has launched with two services: automation for accident claims and automatic claim reconciliation between insurance companies. More services are on the way – some for vehicle owners and some for insurance companies in the UAE, Mr Eissa says.

The company is currently working with 45 insurance companies and about 500 garages across the UAE and aims to partner with more stakeholders, including government agencies, as it expands its services.

Safe City Group – an Abu Dhabi based technology provider for smart cities which owns Motori – has so far spent about AED6m ($1.6m) to develop the platform. It has allocated AED10m in total to put the company through its first year of operations, Mr Eissa says.

The next step is to bring in venture capital and other investors as Motori charts a course for expansion overseas, with Saudi Arabia as its next market.

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Patoma Admin by — December 15, 2020 in Insurance 0

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ (IAIS) executive committee has revealed its four overarching priorities for the coming years, together with leadership reappointments and the addition of five new members to the IAIS.

Its first priority is risk assessment and the maintenance of financial stability, including ongoing assessment of potential vulnerabilities arising from the impact of Covid-19. Secondly, delivering on key post-crisis reforms, including further refinement of the insurance capital standard during the current five-year monitoring period and the consistent implementation of the holistic framework.

The third priority is addressing the risks and opportunities of key trends, especially those accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis, like technological innovation, cyber risk, climate risk and financial inclusion to address the protection gap, said IAIS. It added that diversity and inclusion and helping emerging market and developing economies shift to risk-based supervision will also factor heavily in its work. And finally, “implementation support and assessment, specifically reinforcing our extensive programme of member support to help insurance supervisors understand and implement our standards”.

The IAIS said these priorities will be codified in the IAIS Roadmap 2021-2022, which will be published in early 2021.

“Despite the impact of Covid-19, the IAIS met its key milestones in 2020 and is well positioned to deliver on its future work plan,” said Vicky Saporta, chair of the IAIS executive committee. “Our future work is focused on the ongoing assessment of potential vulnerabilities arising from Covid-19, the finalisation and implementation of key reforms, and supporting our members in responding to accelerating trends like climate change and digital transformation.”

At the association’s recent annual general meeting, five new members joined the IAIS: Agência Angolana de Regulação e Supervisão de Seguros (Angola); Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (Canada); International Financial Services Centres Authority (India); National Bank of Ukraine (Ukraine); and the Insurance and Pensions Commission (Zimbabwe).

The meeting also saw the IAIS elect new executive committee members. Ms Saporta, executive director, prudential policy at the Bank of England, was re-elected as chair of the IAIS executive committee for a third term for a period of two years, and Jonathan Dixon was reappointed as IAIS secretary general for a further three years.

The IAIS also became the first global standard-setting body to adopt an environmental policy aimed at guiding its own performance on environmental issues. The policy sets out clear objectives and metrics by which to measure progress in the reduction of the IAIS’s carbon footprint.

Mr Dixon said: “As with all our members and stakeholders, this has been an incredibly demanding year, but we have demonstrated continued delivery, supported by a rapid adjustment to the new normal of remote work and virtual engagements. Covid-19 has underscored the importance of being able to find global solutions to global challenges, and the importance of international cooperation, collaboration and being able to speak a common supervisory language. Our global efforts are more important than ever.”

Patoma Admin by — December 14, 2020 in Insurance 0