All Posts in "Month: December 2020"

National Director of Insurance of Gabon, has been appointed Olivier Mebiame Assame, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Reinsurance Company of the Member States of the Inter-African Conference of Insurance Markets (CICA-RE).

This decision was made upon the conclusion of the 137th session of the CICA-Re Board of Directors held on 8 December 2020 in Cotonou, Benin.

Olivier Mebiame Assame succeeds the Cameroonian Blaise Abel Ezo’o Engolo who was elected Secretary General of the Inter-African Conference of Insurance Markets (CIMA) on 4 December 2020.

Patoma Admin by — December 14, 2020 in Insurance 0

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THE Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, has kicked against the proposed removal of its members names from the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD, payroll.

National President of NUP, Dr. Abel Afolayan, in his address at the 19th Edition of Pensioners Day Celebration in Abuja, weekend, said the union was in receipt of a letter from PTAD that a large number of members would be deleted from its payroll.

According to the Senior Citizen, “Sometime ago, we received a letter from Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate saying that a large number of names would be deleted from its payroll because they have not attended the nationwide biometric verification exercise.

“This development was very worrisome to the union. We quickly approached PTAD to give us till the end of October 2020, to look into the issue and take all necessary corrective steps.

“We shall continue to dialogue with PTAD on this very sensitive issue as it is absolutely necessary to exercise great caution and ensure PTAD is committed to making life better and not worse for our members after the COVID-19 scourge.”

The union also pleaded with the Federal Government to approve a national minimum pension as was done in the minimum wage.

It said,” Right from the inception of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) in 1978, the union has been agitating for the approval of National Minimum Pension in the same manner National Minimum wage was approved for workers. Up till now, this demand had not been granted.

“We have decided to go through the National Assembly to seek appropriate legislation for approval of the demand. Efforts are therefore ongoing to achieve this age-long dream for pensioners.”

Dr. Afolayan lamented the delay in the approval and payment of increases in pension consequent upon the recent wage increases for workers.

He said,”Recently, we had heartwarming assurance from Executive Secretary of PTAD that all outstanding arrears, be it gratuity or monthly pension arrears would be fully paid before this year 2020 runs out. This is very good news for pensioners. We are therefore looking forward to the fulfillment of this pledge.

“Equally, I must say here loud and clear that as far as the implementation of the constitutional provisions 210(3) as far as state governments are concerned, state governments still remain non-challant and insensitive.

“Many state governments feel reluctant and unwilling to comply with the provisions as if they are neither concerned nor affected.”

Patoma Admin by — December 13, 2020 in Others 0

A total of 58,800 informal sector workers have been registered as contributors under the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), since its inception in March 2019.

This information is contained in the Q3 2020 report recently released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

The sum of N64.7million had been contributed – N46.7m was contributed in year 2020 (Q1 – Q3), while N18.0m was contributed in 2019, i.e. from March to December 2019.

In the same vein, 19,114 new contributors were registered in 2020 and 39,686 registered in 2019.

In Q1 2020, 9,449 registered under the plan and contributed N16.8m but dropped in Q2 2020 to 2,839 contributors with the sum of N7.4m, which could be attributed to business challenges encountered during the pandemic lockdown period between March and June.

In Q3 2020, the figure, in terms of number of new enrolees and contribution, improved significantly to 6,826 and contributions of N22.5m.

The Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 expanded the scope of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to include persons working in informal sectors, based on PenCom’s strategic objective of deepening the market and covering at least 30% of the working population in Nigeria by the end of the year 2024.

Micro Pension Plan (MPP) presents a great business opportunity for the Pension operators as Nigeria has about 59.6 million workers in the informal sector that are not involved in any pension scheme.

Towardsachieving a desirable critical mass, it is important that the operators create reasonable visibility/awareness about the scheme. The scheme is quite new in Nigeria but it is quite promising if the operators can adequately harness the abundant opportunities that exist therein.

Patoma Admin by — December 11, 2020 in Others 0

NEM Insurance Plc has projected a profit after tax of N1.706 billion first quarter period ending 31st March, 2021 representing 52.41 percent rise in the profit projection for the entire 2020.

The forecast published at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday projected a gross premiums written of N10.710 billion, compared with N23 billion projection for the entire 2020.

It also projected cash and cash equivalent at the end of the period to improve to N10.082 billion from N8.885 billion at the beginning

NEM Insurance Plc became a Nigerian branch of NEM General Insurance Association Limited of London in 1965. Incorporated in 1970 as a Nigerian company in compliance with the Companies Decree of 1968, the company became quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1989 following the privatization by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The company, which has contributed immensely towards the growth of Insurance Industry in Nigeria, was into Life and Non- Life business. Following the recapitalization exercise in 2007, the company merged with Vigilant Insurance Company Ltd to transact all classes of General Insurance.

The company has expanded its operations into the West African Sub region, with the successful registration and commencement of business of its former subsidiary, NEM Insurance (Ghana) Limited in May, 2009.

The subsidiary is now merged with Regency Alliance to form Regency Nem Insurance Ghana Ltd in September 2016 due to recapitalization requirement. A new member, NEM Asset Management Limited was also added to the Brand earlier in March, 2016

Patoma Admin by — December 11, 2020 in Insurance 0

Germany has extended its state-backed €30bn Covid-19 credit insurance guarantee for a further six months to 30 June 2021, after pressure from German insurance buyer association GVNW and insurance association GDV to continue the scheme beyond December.

The extension will allow credit insurers to continue underwriting €400bn of insurance to help businesses protect their supply chains and prevent insolvencies, the GDV said.

The emergency alliance of insurers covered by the scheme includes Atradius, Coface, Credendo, Euler Hermes, R+V and Zurich. Under the agreement, insurers can still reduce or cancel credit insurance where buyers show poor credit development, but will maintain current limits as far as possible, said the GDV.

Insurers will pay almost 60% of credit insurance premiums to government, in addition to 10% of sums paid under the bailout arrangement.

“The emergency arrangement does not give companies carte blanche to enter into risky deals with customers whose financial stability had been questionable even before the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Jörg Asmussen, chairman of the GDV.

The extension of the credit insurance guarantee, which was first launched in April to protect supply chains during the pandemic, is subject to approval by the European Commission.

Mr Asmussen said the GDV estimates that credit limits covered by insurers account for about 15% of German exports and therefore contribute “significantly to the security of Germany’s export sector”.

Patoma Admin by — December 10, 2020 in Insurance 0

The Minister of Aviation, Mr. Hadi Siriks has said that the planned reform will serve as a catalyst for a comprehensive overhaul of the aviation industry.

Sirika also said that the reform would osition the country as an air transportation hub within the West and Central African sub-region.

This was disclosed by Minister Hadi Sirika, as Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 2020 International Civil Aviation Day on Tuesday.

In a statement issued by James Odaudu, Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation and seen by Nairametrics, the Minister explained that the roadmap includes the establishment of a national carrier, establishment of a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, Concession of some airports, the establishment of an Aviation Leasing Company, amongst others.

He added that it will lay a solid and lasting foundation for Aviation development in Nigeria. “The implementation of the roadmap, which is in line with the theme of the ICAD, remains on course and that the results will become obvious in due course.

“Safety and security have remained at the centre of government policies in the sector since the inception of the current administration and its efforts have been applauded by all, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC).

The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.

He appealed to all players within the industry to join hands with the government to ensure the realisation of the lofty objectives of the roadmap for the benefit of Nigerians and all users of the nation’s airspace.

The Minister also uses the occasion to reaffirm Nigeria’s unalloyed commitment to the ideals of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and other Aviation bodies of which it is a member

Patoma Admin by — December 9, 2020 in Aviation 0

Coronation Insurance Plc and Access Bank have signed a deal on bancassurance in pursuit of taking propagating the business more efficiently.

  1. The chairman of board of Coronation Insurance Plc, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, has announced the bancassurance deal reached between the insurer and Bank, allowing the banks’ floors to serve as another branch of the insurer with all their underwriting policies on offer, creating a partnership that feeds mutual benefits.

Sunmonu disclosed this at a webinar on “Managing Risks That Keep CEOs Up At Night,” in Lagos, and stated that the partnership will redefine how insurance services are delivered to corporate customers. Besides, he said boosters of the deal are the insurers impressive digital integration, size of investment, financial capacity and talent.

The group managing director/chief executive officer of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, said the bank sealed the deal with the expectation that it’s going to be more than a “bank promise” to its customers, where they will “have the best experience in underwriting and claims and we believe that it is possible that with a bancassurance partner with a company like Coronation Insurance, it will be achieved.”

Wigwe said there are several background checks conducted by the bank which showed that Coronation ticked as the fastest-growing corporate risk underwriter in the last decade and, one of the top three most capitalised insurance companies in Nigeria.

He said the partnership with Coronation resonates with big banks across the globe. He explains: “In pursuit of our goal of being more than a bank to our customers, largest banks with similar ambition like ours across the globe have bancassurance partners who offer their services directly or indirectly through the bank.”

The checks made by the bank he stated, had to match a couple of identifiers; “the first among them is the underwriters speed of response to customers, and the second, is the financial strength and capitalisation base of the underwriter.”

Wigwe said the bank went to that length because of its customers interest; he bares his mind: “With the strong interest of our customers in mind, Access Bank considers all of these qualities and found Coronation Insurance to be leading within the various categories.”

Patoma Admin by — December 8, 2020 in Insurance 0

Blaise Abel Ezo’o Engolo was elected secretary-general of the Inter-African Conference of the Insurance Markets (CIMA).

Engolo is a Cameroonian working at the national insurance department of the Ministry of Finance, obtained the vote of 12 (out of 14) of the plenipotentiary member states of the conference that regulates the insurance market in West and Central Africa.

He thus becomes the head of a diplomatic mission with residence in Libreville, Gabon. He replaces his compatriot Issofa Ncharé, who was elected in October 2015 for a 5-year term.

As the secretary-general of CIMA, Blaise Abel Ezo’o Engolo will prepare, execute, and monitor the works of the CIMA council and committee. He will also decide on the modalities for the implementation of the acts drafted by the council, control (upon his initiative or after an order from the committee) insurance and reinsurance companies authorized in member countries and transmit a yearly report on his activities, and that of the CIMA to the council.

Patoma Admin by — December 8, 2020 in Insurance 0