All Posts in "Month: September 2021"

Nigerian pension fund asset rises to N12.8 trillion as RSA contributors hits 9.4 million

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The pension asset value rose by N123.47 billion in July 2021 to close at N12.78 trillion compared to N12.66 trillion recorded in the previous month.

This is contained in the pension funds industry report for the review month as released by the National Pension Commission.

According to the report, the net asset value of Nigeria’s pensions fund recorded a 0.98% increase in the month of July 2021, while 22,349 RSA registrations were recorded in the same month increasing total contributors to 9.4 million.

A cursory look at the data, reveals pension asset value has gained N474.49 billion between January and July of the year. In the same vein, 189,765 more contributors have been registered into the scheme, year-to-date.

Pension Fund managers in Nigeria have been recording stellar performances in their various portfolios year-to-date, owing to their systematic investments, so as to edge other competitors in the industry. Recall, that the competition in the industry has grown significantly since contributors can now easily transfer from one administrator to another.

A recent analysis by Nairametrics shows 70% of the 22 PFAs recorded positive growth across their four retirement savings account funds (RSA I – IV), with Stanbic IBTC, Veritas Glanvills and APT Pension leading the list of best-performing PFAs between January and July 2021.

While the growth in the number of RSA registration seems to be increasing in a linear form, it is still very small compared to Nigeria’s labour force or working population. In context, Nigeria’s labour force data as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), shows that 30.57 million and 15.92 million Nigerians are fully and underemployed respectively.

Simple computation of the total 46.5 million employed Nigerian indicates that only 20% of the working population is currently captured in the Nigerian pension fund scheme. This is significantly low for a country that boasts of being the largest economy on the continent.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) with a lesser population boasts of Africa’s largest pension fund with over 1.2 million active members and assets in excess of R1.61 trillion (N46.3 trillion).

 

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in Pension 0
South African life insurers pay more than US$3.3bn in death claims in 12 months to March

By admin

 

 

Death claims statistics released by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) show that 1.02m death claims were lodged between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.

Mr Hennie de Villiers, deputy chair of the ASISA Life and Risk Board Committee, says the tragedy is that this represents an increase of 309,733 death claims compared to the statistics for the previous 12 months when 713,350 claims were received.
The beneficiaries of the policyholders who died in the 12 months to the end of March 2021 would have received death benefits of ZAR47.58bn ($3.3bn) across all lines of risk business. This represents a 64% increase in the value of claims paid by life insurers when compared to the previous 12 month period when ZAR29.08bn was paid.

The statistics reflect claims made against individual life, group life (offered by employers), credit life and funeral cover policies.

Mr de Villiers, referring to the statistics, said, “These are staggering numbers and there is no doubt that COVID-19 has caused many of these additional deaths, whether directly as a result of a person contracting the virus or because people were reluctant to seek medical attention for other serious conditions. The hard lockdown conditions, curfews and alcohol bans would have reduced violent and accidental deaths.”

He says that the significance of the ZAR47.58bn in death benefits paid by life insurers in the 12 months to the end of March 2021 becomes evident when considered against the ZAR60bn paid by the government’s COVID-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) to furloughed workers from inception in March last year to July 2021.

Mr de Villiers says that the biggest jump in the value of benefits paid was noted in the individual life space where life insurers reported a 70% increase. In the 12 months to the end of March 2021, life insurers paid ZAR29.11bn to the beneficiaries of individual life policies, compared to ZAR17.12bn in the previous 12-month period.

He notes that the highest increase in the number of death claims took place in the funeral insurance space where the number of claims recorded increased by 216,705 in the 12 months to the end of March 2021.

He states that despite the significant increase in claims paid as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the life insurance industry remains resilient and able to support its policyholders and their beneficiaries throughout this difficult time and beyond.

The beneficiaries of the policyholders who died in the 12 months to the end of March 2021 would have received death benefits of ZAR47.58bn ($3.3bn) across all lines of risk business. This represents a 64% increase in the value of claims paid by life insurers when compared to the previous 12 month period when ZAR29.08bn was paid.

The statistics reflect claims made against individual life, group life (offered by employers), credit life and funeral cover policies.

Mr de Villiers, referring to the statistics, said, “These are staggering numbers and there is no doubt that COVID-19 has caused many of these additional deaths, whether directly as a result of a person contracting the virus or because people were reluctant to seek medical attention for other serious conditions. The hard lockdown conditions, curfews and alcohol bans would have reduced violent and accidental deaths.”

He says that the significance of the ZAR47.58bn in death benefits paid by life insurers in the 12 months to the end of March 2021 becomes evident when considered against the ZAR60bn paid by the government’s COVID-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) to furloughed workers from inception in March last year to July 2021.

Mr de Villiers says that the biggest jump in the value of benefits paid was noted in the individual life space where life insurers reported a 70% increase. In the 12 months to the end of March 2021, life insurers paid ZAR29.11bn to the beneficiaries of individual life policies, compared to ZAR17.12bn in the previous 12-month period.

He notes that the highest increase in the number of death claims took place in the funeral insurance space where the number of claims recorded increased by 216,705 in the 12 months to the end of March 2021.

He states that despite the significant increase in claims paid as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the life insurance industry remains resilient and able to support its policyholders and their beneficiaries throughout this difficult time and beyond.

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in Insurance 0
Morrocoan insurance record $3.15bn turnover as at June 2021

By adnin

 

 

The Supervisory Authority for Insurance and Social Welfare (ACAPS), Morrocoan insurance market has recorded a turnover of 28.169 billion MAD (3.15 billion USD) in the first half of 2021, which represents a 3.08percent increase compared to the 27.326 billion MAD (2.7 billion USD) recorded at the end of June 2020.

With a 56.3bpercent market share, non-life premiums are progressing by 11 percent to reach 15.868 billion MAD (1.77 billion USD). The life activity is posting a 14.2 percent.  growth of its turnover with 12.301 billion MAD (1.37 billion USD). This class of business accounts for 43.7 percent of the total premiums underwritten in Morocco at the end of H1 2021

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in Insurance 0
Nigeria records N1.8 trn trade deficit in Q2’21-NBS *As foreign trade rises 23% to N12 trn

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said the country  recorded a trade deficit of N1.8 trillion in the second quarter of the year (Q2’21).

Also, the nation’s foreign trade rose by 23 percent to N12 trillion from N9.8 trillion in Q1’21.

The bureau disclosed this today in its Foriegn Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q2’21.

The bureau said: “ During Q2’21, the total merchandise trade stood at N12.03 trillion representing 23 percent

increase over the value (N9.8 trillion) recorded in Q1’21 and 88.7 percent increase compared to Q2’20.

“This increase resulted from the sharp increase in export value during the quarter under review.

According to NBS, the export component of this trade was valued at N5.08 trillion or 42 percent while the import was valued at N6.95 trillion or 58 percent while the trade balance stood at a deficit of N1.87 trillion.

It said:“The crude oil which is the major component of export trade stood at N4.07 trillion or 80.3 per cent of total export. This further shows a sharp increase of 111 per cent in Crude oil value in Q2’21 compared to (N1.9 trillion) recorded in Q1’21 while the Non-crude oil export recorded N1 trillion or 20 per cent of total export trade during Q2’21.”

On export, the bureau stated: “Export by section revealed that Mineral products accounted for N4.6 trillion or 91 per cent of total export trade. This was followed by vehicles, aircraft and parts; vessels etc N141.73 billion or 3.0 percent , vegetable products N92.80 billion or 1.8 per cent among others.

“In terms of regional trade, Nigeria exported most products to Asia (N1.8 trillion or 36 per cent), Europe (N1.8 trillion or 36 per cent), America (N806.81billion or 16 per cent) and Africa (N584.11 billion or 12 per cent) while Oceania totaled N23.28 billion or 0.5 per cent..

“During the quarter goods worth N363.3 billion was exported to ECOWAS.” NBS said that most goods were exported to India (N949.05 billion or 18.7 percent), Spain (N524.49 billion or 10 per cent), Canada (N355.60 billion or 7.0 per cent) and Netherlands (N298.29billion or 5.9 per cent) and United States (N256.63 billion or 5.1 per cent).

On import the bureau said: “Imports by SITC revealed that machinery & transport equipment accounted for N2.5 trillion or

36 per cent of total import trade. This was followed by chemicals & related products N1.3 trillion or 18 per cent , mineral fuel N1.1 trillion or 16 per cent, food and live animals N951.28 billion or 14 per cent andmanufactured goods N640.47 billion or 9.2 per cent among others..

“Import trade classified by region showed Asia as the leading partner with a record of N3.5 trillion or 50 per cent.The next leading partner was Europe with N2.3 trillion or 33 per cent.

“Others are America N869 billion or 13 per cent, Africa N248.8 billion or 4.0 per cent and Oceania N58 billion or 0.84 per cent.

“Out of the value recorded for Africa, imports from ECOWAS countries accounted for N24.2 billion .”

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in News 0
Global marine premiums up 6% but IUMI cautious over longer-term recovery

By admin

 

Global marine premiums rose 6.1 percent last year to $30bn with underwriting results improving across all regions on the back of low claims, according to new figures from the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI).

Unveiling the numbers at its annual conference in Seoul, South Korea, IUMI reported positive news for marine insurers in most insurance lines and geographic regions. It said this is the result of an increased premiums base, an “extraordinarily low” claims frequency during Covid-19 and a better-than-expected economic bounceback from the initial effects of the pandemic.

Some 47.7 percent of the $30bn global marine premium last year came from Europe, 29.3 percent from Asia-Pacific, 9.3 percent from Latin America, 7.7 percentfrom North America and 6% from elsewhere.

By line of business, cargo continued to represent the largest share with 57.2 percent followed by hull on 23.8 percent, offshore energy on 12.1 percent and marine liability on 6.8 percent

Vice-chair of IUMI’s facts and figures committee, Astrid Seltmann, said: “We are reporting an increase in absolute premiums for 2020 in both the hull and cargo markets. These are derived as a combination of volume – trade, values, global fleet size – and rates per insured unit. It appears that the European market bottomed out in 2019 and is now strengthening again; and the Asian market continues to enjoy a year-on-year increase that began in 2016. We see this primarily as a market reaction to the depleted premium base experienced in preceding years.”

She added that in general, cargo and hull underwriting results improved in 2019/2020 across all regions, largely due to the strengthened premium base coupled with very low claims.

“This is a positive trend but as this recovery started from a very low base it is not yet clear if the current improvement will be sustained in future years to give more predictability for shipowners, cargo owners and insurers. The recent claims environment has been relatively benign, which needs to be seen in connection with reduced activity in some shipping segments in 2020 – cruise, container trades – as a reaction to Covid measures. With the economy recovering and shipping and offshore activity increasing, it can be expected that both claims frequency and severity will also rise again,” continued Ms Seltmann.

IUMI’s figures show that global offshore energy premiums rose 8.6% last year to $3.6bn.

IUMI said premium income mirrors the global oil price and believes that the bottom of the premium decrease cycle has been reached. “However, the oil price remains volatile and was impacted negatively in 2020 due to the pandemic. 2021 has seen an oil price rally but the effects of events such as Hurricane Ida are yet to be known,” it said.

Claims in the offshore energy sector remain historically low, with 2020 likely to produce the lowest upstream claims this century, said IUMI.

Global cargo premiums were up 5.9 percent in 2020 to $17.2bn, its numbers show.

The Chinese market continues strong growth, with moderate growth in other regions. Exchange rate fluctuations impact most heavily on this sector, so comparisons with earlier years cannot be exact, IUMI noted.

It added that the fortunes of the cargo market tend to follow trends in world trade and predictions from the International Monetary Fund are optimistic.

“Global trade appears to have returned more strongly than expected after the outbreak of Covid, which lends a positive outlook for business opportunities within the cargo market going forward,” said IUMI.

It added that improving loss ratios in 2019/2020 returned the cargo sector to technical break-even for the first time in many years.

“Although the claims impact was relatively low in 2019/2020, which helped return the sector to a technical break-even, there is still a potential for a higher claims environment to return in 2021 and beyond. In particular, accumulation of risk continues to cause concern. The trend of storing large amounts of cargo at single sites or on single vessels exposes high values to nat cat or man-made events that could easily result in costly claims,” continued IUMI.

Global ocean hull premiums, meanwhile, rose 6 percent last year to $7.1bn, according to IUMI.

Growth was particularly strong in the Nordic region but much weaker in the UK and Lloyd’s market, where the decline in recent years continued. Again, claims were low because of Covid-19 and IUMI said the current recovery might see claims return to more normal levels in the near future.

It added that, in general, ocean hull loss ratios improved across all regions, returning the market to a technical break-even position after many years of “unsustainable” results. Shipping’s return to full activity might negatively impact that position, however, it warned.

“Of particular concern is that the frequency of onboard fires does not decline contrary to the overall claims frequency. This is particularly true for large container vessels. Statistically, these vessels are more prone to fire due to the large quantities and variation of cargo being carried, as well as the challenges inherent in fighting a fire on such a large vessel at sea. Containership fires affect seafarers, the environment, as well as cargo, hull and liability insurance, and must be urgently addressed,” it said.

Philip Graham, chair of IUMI’s facts and figures committee, said: “Our analysis for 2020 shows some signs of encouragement for market development in all main marine insurance lines and in all global regions. But we should remain cautious as there are a number of factors at play.

“On the positive side, we are seeing new markets enter the marine insurance space, particularly offshore wind where project sanctioning has overtaken offshore oil and gas for the first time… more generally, OECD business confidence has returned, or is rapidly returning, to pre-Covid levels, world trade forecasts are extremely positive and this will drive demand for shipping and, consequently, marine insurance… overall, shipping appears to be bouncing back strongly from the outbreak of Covid,” he added.

But he warned that increased shipping activity, reactivation in the offshore energy market and an increasingly ageing merchant fleet have the potential to reverse the current downward trend in marine claims

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in Insurance 0
Naicom boss charge 47th AIO participants to broaden partnerships, relationships

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Nigeria’ Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas charged insurance and all other stakeholders at the 47th African ainsurance Organisation, AIO, to use the opportunity offered by the conference to establish new partnerships and make new relationships.

The Chief Executive Officer of National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Thomas while welcoming foreign and local delegates to the 47th Africa Insurance Organization (AIO) conference in Lagos yesterday said the insurers should expand the horizon during the event.

He said the new relationships and partnerships will not only enhance the effectiveness of the industry but  will add value to insurance operations in the Continent.

Speaking on the effect of COVID-19, he said “The Pandemic was challenging to everything that has to do with human affairs, in spite of the pandemic we still have time to have this program.”

“I want to believe that in the course of this programme new relationships and partnerships will be established, friends will be made, I know that kicking off tomorrow effectively the event is going to add value to our operation. I want to thank you for this evening, let us make the best of the time we have tonight.”

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in Insurance 0
Insurance women in Africa to light-up AIO conference tomorrow

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Insurance women in Africa under the eagid of the Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA) Africa will tommorow light up at the on going 47th Africa Insurance Organisation, AIO with a workshop under the leadership Chief Host and President of PILA Nigeria, FL Joyce Ojemudia, MD/CEO of African Alliance Insurance PLC

The worship scheduled to take place at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, tomorrow,  theme: Women Collaborating for Africa’s Economic Growth, will bring together professional women in insurance across Africa to discuss strategies and tactics for collaborating across various roles for the advancement of the continent.

While speaking about the workshop, Ojemudia said “Statistics show that women constitute a significant chunk of the demography of African continent with population of approximately 691 million.

“Out of this population, a critical chunk are professionals, including those operating in the Insurance Industry. From these records, coupled with the renewed acceleration of the number of women taking up careers in the professions, the hope of the continent would only be brighter if the female gender is factored into considerations for strategic positions in governance and policy making across the continent.”

Dr Abiba Zakariah, Chief Operating Officer, WAICA Re, a seasoned financial services professional with over 20 years’ experience in insurance and reinsurance, is billed to lead the discourse as the guest speaker while FL Abimbola Tiamiyu and FL Yetunde Ilori, the Directors-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) and the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) respectively would be the discussants.

PILA Africa, an initiative of PILA Nigeria, is the umbrella body of female insurance professionals and practitioners in Africa which aims to harness the rich potentials of women whilst ensuring they take their rightful place in their respective industries across the continent

Patoma Admin by — September 6, 2021 in Insurance 0
Coronation Insurance boosts shareholders ROI

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Coronation Insurance Plc has given its shareholders the assurance to improve on the company’s returns on investment at all times.

The Chairman of the company,  Mr Mutiu Sunmonu who gave the assurance  while addressing the shareholders at the 62nd Annual General Meeting  in Lagos, stated that  transformation ongoing in the company  since the last few years has already paved  way for further growth which will in turn benefit the shareholders.

“One thing that is very very common to all the shareholders who raised questions is about dividend pay, protection of the minority shareholders.  I think the two things that are also salient is making sure that at the end of the day, existing  shareholders derived maximum milage for their investment in one form or the other.

“And if you look at what we are doing at Coronation Insurance in the two years and you observed how we have moved up in terms of ranking,  am sure that will give all our shareholders confidence that the tragetry is right and end goal is very clear in our mind . We must make sure that there is maximum value to our shareholders.  I can assure you that we have our eyes on the board on that. I truly believe that we will not let you down”, he said.

It will be recalled that the company paid N6.91 billion as claims in 2020, signifying a 69.5 percent increase, according to its consolidated and separate financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Its total claims paid rose by 69.5 percent to N6.91bn in 2020 while underwriting profit rose slightly by 12.5 percent to N3.29bn.

Its profit after tax rose from N214.327 million in 2019 to N1.202bn as profit for only the company went up from a loss of N308.981m in 2019 to N215.492m profit.

However, the company’s gross premium written grew to N11.64bn from N10.71bn while fee and commission income for the year under review increased by 6.7 percent to N2.11bn

Also speaking , the Managing Director of the Coronation Insurance, Mr Olamide Olajolo, while responding to questions from shareholders assured that the firms partnership with Access Bank was poised to enhance growth of the firm.

“Regarding our relationship with Access Bank, our partnership with Access Bank is very strong and is going. We are leveraging on its customers and developed digital channels to access all their customers.

“Am very confident that in the coming months we will start seeing results of these efforts.”

Shareholders at the meeting,  the National Coordinator Emeritus, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, the  National Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria ( PSAN) Mr Boniface Okezie, Mrs. Bisi Bakare of Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria  and the Chairman of Ibadan Zone Shareholders Association, Mr Eric Akinduro unanimously welcomed the new managing director even as they urged him to work hard to ensure dividend pay out to shareholders and improved financial performance come next financial year.

Patoma Admin by — September 4, 2021 in Insurance 0
Amaechi inspects proposed site for Bonny Deep Seaport …Construction to commence soon

By admin

 

 

Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has inspected the proposed site for construction of the Bonny Deep Seaport.

Amaechi made the visit, Friday in company of the Permanent Secretary, Dr Magdalene Ajani, the Acting MD, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Koko and experts from the Ministry of Transportation, the NPA and the contractors, CCECC.

During the inspection, the Minister noted that in choosing the site, considerations must be made towards cost reduction and ease in paying compensations.

He said while the South East part of the Island was also viable, the most feasible may be the area to the West in Finima, as it would require less dredging.

“The experts have said it will take only 500 metres of dredging at this point to get to 17metres draught which is our target for the depth of the seaport. The moment you reclaim 500metres into the ocean, you get to 17metres draught. You don’t need further dredging. While on the other end, you need 1.16kms dredging to get to the water. It will be more expensive to dredge 1.16km than to build rail line to this place. We can do the cost analysis and come to a decision.

Amaechi also said selection of the area, when finally decided upon would ensure that NNPC pipes would not be tampered with or moved for the rail lines extending to the Seaport to be laid.

“It would also be easier to pay compensations here and take the rail through this area instead of running it through the other end where there are pipes. And compensation would be paid on properties, not on land. If the land is not enough, the Federal Government would acquire more for the expansion,” Amaechi said.

Speaking to newsmen, the MD, NPA, Mohammed Koko said, “what we did today was to reconfirm the right location for the port, although final studies will be made and conclusions reached. The other location had pipes, so we believe that this one will be perfect. It has a natural draft of about 17metres.

“The Port which will have a capacity of about 500,000 TEUs on completion is a necessary infrastructure for Nigeria. Nigeria has over 823 kilometres of coastline and we have always been saying that the idea of building deep seaports will bring more economic value to the country, and Nigeria will eventually become a maritime hub in Africa or the West African sub-region,” he said.

Koko also stated that construction will kick off within the year and run concurrently with the construction of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line which also extends to the Bonny Deep Seaport.

Patoma Admin by — September 3, 2021 in Transportation 0
Malaysia approves Boeing 737 MAX’s return to Sky

By admin

 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has recertified the Boeing 737 MAX over two years after it grounded the jet.

The CAAM made its decision following a review of U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing publications on the MAX’s return to service. The agency has also released a new safety directive for Malaysian and foreign MAX operators.

Malaysia ungrounds the 737 MAX
After grounding the Boeing 737 MAX in March 2019, Malaysia’s aviation authority has today approved the MAX’s return to the skies. The CAAM lifted its ban on the jet as it released a new safety directive, Safety Directive 01/2021, for both Malaysian and foreign operators of the MAX.
In the safety directive, the CAAM said,

“CAAM has reviewed and validated all applicable FAA and manufacturer publications on the Boeing 737 MAX in relation to its return to service. Based on these and all other related factors, CAAM has conducted a safety risk assessment (SRA) for thee return to service in Malaysia.”

The move comes around two and a half years after countries worldwide grounded the MAX in March 2019 after two fatal crashes. Despite several canceled orders in the immediate aftermath, flag carrier Malaysia Airlines retained its order for 25 MAX-8s. In May, the airline agreed with Boeing to defer delivery of its new jets until 2024.

Chester Voo, CAAM Chief Executive Officer, said, “The Safety Directive 01/2021 revokes the previous Safety Directive issued on March 13th, 2019, that prohibits the operations of the Boeing 737 MAX-8 in Malaysia.”

A new safety directive for MAX operators
The 737 MAX is cleared for Malaysian airspace, so long as operators comply with all requirements laid out by the CAAM. The requirements are laid out in the CAAM’s Safety Directive 01/2021 issued today, which draws heavily on the work done by the FAA and Boeing to get the MAX recertified.

According to the directive,“ [Operators must] implement all applicable elements contained in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Directive AD 2020-24-02, FAA Flight Standardization Board Report (FSBR) on pilot training and any applicable updates/directives issued by FAA from time to time.”

Chester Voo also noted that the CAAM has closely followed the approval processes of other national aviation authorities, particularly the U.S FAA.

Voo added, “CAAM recognized the work of the FAA as the State of Design and accepted the comprehensive return-to-service requirements set by the FAA for the Boeing 737 MAX.”

Patoma Admin by — September 3, 2021 in Aviation 0