All Posts in "Month: October 2021"

CHI renews N24m GPA cover for journalists till Sept 30, 2022

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Consolidated  Hallmark Insurance(CHI) Plc, has renewed the N24million group personal accident insurance cover for insurance journalists in the country for another year to elapse 30th September, 2022.

This annual policy which has been on cover since 2012 for all members of National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO), is part of CHI corporate social responsibility (CSR) project.

The cover which began 1st October, protects journalists exposure to danger and hazard on the line of duty, it covers death, permanent disability and medical expenses.

The group managing director/CEO, CHI, Mr. Eddie Efekoha said this gesture is to identify with NAIPCO members and show value and respect for journalism, who are the shaper of the society, and by extension, the insurance industry.

Journalism, he said, is a risky profession, hence, the need to adequately provide insurance for those covering the insurance industry.

In the case of the death of any of the concerned journalists, he said, the family of the deceased is entitled to N1 million death benefits. He explains, “A journalist who suffers permanent disability in the discharge of his duties will also be entitled to N1 million. The cover provides for medical expenses to the tune of N200,000 per journalist in the case of an accident.”

The chairman, National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents(NAIPCO), Mr. Chuks Udo Okonta, commended the firm for the cover reiterating that the association appreciates the yearly renewal at no cost to the association, showing how much the company endorses the role of journalists in the society to discharge their duties without let or hinderance at all times.

Patoma Admin by — October 28, 2021 in Insurance 0
PTAD pays N7bn to 24,000 pensioners in computation exercisr

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has reviewed, re-computed and paid over N7 billion to 24,000 pensioners in the ongoing computation exercise.

Executive secretary of PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, at a meeting in Kwara for pensioners in the north central region.

Reeling out the achievements of the agency, Ejikeme said: “In 2020, I also approved the commencement of an expanded re-validation and re-computation exercise in a bid to on-board verified pensioners not on payroll, cleared all outstanding pension arrears and resolved all complaints of short payments and outstanding gratuities for the civil service pensioners and their next of kin (NoK).

“Over 21,000 unverified pensioners were dropped from the payroll in October 2020. So far over 2500 of the October drops have been verified, restored to the payroll with the attendant arrears paid.

“The on boarding of verified and not on payroll is ongoing.

Some of the accrued and inherited arrears paid by the directorate include: cleared the 33 per cent increment arrears owed pensioners in the parastatals pension department in December 2019.

Following the increment made to salaries of some federal government employees in 2019 as a result of the review of the national minimum wage, a committee was set up by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to review the pension and come up with an appropriate and realistic measure to increase the amount paid as pension to pensioners under the defined benefit scheme.

The directorate also has gotten the receipt of the repatriated sum of £26.5 million hitherto domiciled outside the shores of Nigeria.”

She said that the funds were under investment with Crown Agents Investment Management Limited, United Kingdom

Patoma Admin by — October 27, 2021 in Pension 0
CPS records marginal growth of 0.89% in Q2 2021

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

National Pension Commission (PenCom) said that the pension industry recorded a marginal growth of 0.89 per cent (83,146) in Contributive Pension Schemes membership in the Q2 2021, rises to 9.44 million in Q2: 2021 from 9.36 million members at the end of Q1: 2021

The regulator disclosed this in second quarter 2021 reports adds that the growth in the industry membership was driven solely by the RSA Scheme, with an increase of 83,146 registered contributors, while noting that Membership of the Closed Pension Fund Administrator (CPFA) Schemes and Approved Existing Schemes (AES) remained unchanged as at Q2: 2021.

It submitted that the total pension contributions remitted to individual RSAs in Q2: 2021 stood at N195.08 billion, of the total, the public sector accounted for N97.17 billion or 49.81 per cent, while the private sector contributed N97.91 billion or 50.19 per cent.

The cumulative pension contributions from inception to the end of the second quarter of 2021 amounted to N7.10 trillion, which is an increase from N6.70 trillion as at the end of Q1: 2021.

PenCom revealed that 19 defaulting employers have been recommended for appropriate legal action over their failure to contribute and remit pension funds for their workers.

It explained that following the issuance of demand notices to defaulting employers whose pension liabilities were established by the Recovery Agents (RAs), the sum of N398,006,984.46 representing principal contribution (N243,396,311.27) and penalty (N154,610,673.19) were recovered from 31 defaulting employers during the quarter under review.

Patoma Admin by — October 27, 2021 in Pension 0
NGE calls on insurance companies to provide cover for Journalists

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Mustapha Isah, has called on insurance companies to cover for journalists in the country.

Isah made the call during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday to underwriting firms to provide insurance cover for journalists so as to encourage them carry out thier duties effectively.

He said such insurance policy would encourage journalists to go the extra mile in getting authentic stories and disseminating credible information.

He said that insurance cover for journalists in the country was a necessity and would boost their morale, enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the media industry.

According to him, “Journalists in Nigeria are practising under a difficult and sometimes dangerous environment, thereby putting their lives on the line”

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“During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, media houses didn’t shut down. Journalists were still going out to do their work, even without any form of insurance cover.
Some of us were infected in the process. Also, some journalists lost their lives in Kano and Abuja during the Shi’a protest.

“As we speak now, a reporter from Vanguard newspaper is missing and has not been found. Journalists should have insurance cover.

“CNN would not take you without having an insurance cover for you. That is why their journalists would be bold to report even from the war front,” the NGE President said.

Isah narrated how a Director of Press in a military formation in Maiduguri once told him to come to Borno to cover the war against insurgency instead of calling via the phone everytime there was an attack.

“I told him I didn’t have an insurance cover to cover the war against Boko Haram insurgency in Borno.

“I asked him if I died in the process what would happen to my family.

“So, there is the urgent need for media house owners and outfits to get insurance cover for their journalists,” he said. (NAN)

Patoma Admin by — October 25, 2021 in Insurance 0
Kenya:Digitisation,microinsurance open up opportunities for insurers

By admin

 

 

Companies offering InsurTech services such as mobile claims and policy payment services and microinsurance companies offering low-cost products such as funeral and livestock insurance are most likely to succeed in the Kenyan market, says the global professional services firm KPMG.

In a report, KPMG notes that until recently, most insurers have heavily relied on face-to-face distribution and have legacy systems that do not accommodate the changing needs of consumers.

In a world where consumers are clued up on technology and prefer to have their world revolve around their smartphones, there is an opportunity for insurers to digitise customer engagement through software applications. Increasingly, Kenyan insurers are following suit and offering self-service options through smartphone technology and only facilitating interaction with an agent when the client needs advice.

Opportunities for insurers also lie in prioritising the development of microinsurance products such as livestock and crop insurance. These would appeal to a large portion of the population in Kenya as much of the population works in the agriculture sector. Heavy rains in Kenya regularly cause floods destroying crops, farmland and property and food insecurity is exacerbated by locust invasions which devastate the agricultural industry and continue the cycle of poverty.

However, with most insurers updating their policies to exclude catastrophic events and the impact of COVID-19 and business interruption, local consumers’ distrust of insurers continues to increase.

Furthermore, the KPMG report reads, “Like many countries in Africa, Kenya is faced with high volumes of fraud and corruption and the insurance industry is not any different. It is estimated that 25% of claims costs of insurers in Kenya are a result of fraudulent claims.”

In addition, in recent years, Kenya has seen an increase in cyber attack cases with 29% of corporate users experiencing malware attacks in just the first half of 2021. This calls for more effort and investment to be put into cyber security

Nevertheless, KPMG says that improving Kenya’s socio-economic status will aid in raising the insurance penetration levels which have remained for a long time below global averages which indicates a large, uninsured customer base,

At 3%, Kenya has the third-lowest insurance penetration rate in Sub-Saharan Africa with South Africa leading at 17%. This is due to most of Kenya’s population perceiving insurance as a “nice-to-have/easy to discard” product rather than one that is essential.

There are 58 insurers and reinsurers in Kenya and the market is dominated by CIC, Jubilee, Britam, ICEA, Lion General and APA Insurance. General insurance dominates the industry, accounting for 60% of industry gross written premiums.

Despite the low insurance penetration rate, the Kenyan government has been proactive when it comes to educating the population about the benefits of insurance products. The Insurance Regulatory Authority, Kenya’s insurance regulator, conducts a number of consumer education programmes around the country on an annual basis.

Patoma Admin by — October 25, 2021 in Insurance 0
Burkina Faso:Authorities rein in commission malpractices in life insurance sector

By admin

Burkina Faso, one of the 14 member countries of the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA), has decided to cap the commissions paid by life insurers to banks at 5% instead of 15%.

This decision also prohibits paying commissions to bank account managers or staff.

As a reminder, Burkina Faso adopted a decree in April 2002 setting floor rates and ceilings for commissions according to the different branches of insurance, reported Financial Afrik.

In a statement, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance said that for the life branch in general, and particularly for borrowers’ death insurance, the commission rates applied are often much higher than the relevant ceiling rates.

“From our surveys of banks, it appears that in addition to commissions paid to banks for intermediation, other types of commissions would be paid to advisors. This double remuneration makes the commission rates paid higher than the regulatory rates ”.

These practices, says a ministerial note addressed to the directors of insurance companies, are “contrary to regulatory requirements and could be of a nature to discredit and induce harmful effects on this segment of the market in particular and in general on the entire life insurance sector in our country.”

In any case, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance says that surprise inspections will be carried out to ensure that regulations are complied with, in particular, with regard to provisions relating to commission rates for the life branch. Any offenders will reimburse unduly paid commissions and will be penalised in accordance with the provisions of the Insurance Code.

Patoma Admin by — October 25, 2021 in Insurance 0
South Africa:Retirement income system falls in rankings in 2021

By admin

 

South Africa’s retirement income system has been ranked the 31st best among the 43 systems worldwide covered this year by the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index. This represents a fall of four places from 27th position in 2020 out of 39 systems ranked that year.

The decline was despite South Africa’s overall index value increasing to 53.6 this year from 53.2 in 2020, as is indicated by the 2021 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index report.

This was because four retirement systems were added to the rankings this year, of which three of them surpassed that of South Africa’s. The three are Iceland (ranked 1st), Uruguay (20th) and UAE (22nd). At the same time, China jumped up in the rankings from 33rd place in 2020 to 28th in 2021.

The Global Pension Index uses the weighted average of the sub-indices of adequacy, sustainability and integrity to measure each retirement system against more than 50 indicators.

It benchmarks retirement income systems around the world highlighting some shortcomings in each system and suggests possible areas of reform that would provide more adequate and sustainable retirement benefits.

The table below summarises the rankings of South Africa’s retirement income system:
The Global Pension Index report notes that South Africa’s retirement income system comprises a means-tested public pension and tax-supported voluntary occupational schemes.

Patoma Admin by — October 25, 2021 in Insurance 0
Allianz raises European flood loss estimate to €1.1bn

By admin

 

 

Global insurance and reinsurance group Allianz has lifted its estimate for gross losses from storm Bernd’s impacts in Europe and the severe flooding that struck the region by 22 percent to €1.1 billion.
Allianz had said that it expected its excess-of-loss reinsurance tower would be triggered by the flooding claims and that more than half of the gross loss burden would be recovered, with its net loss set to be reduced to around €400 million.

It’s likely that even though the gross loss has risen by 22 percent the net impact to Allianz could stay roughly the same, meaning that the companies reinsurance recovery could now be as much as €700 million, although we cannot be certain of this as Allianz has not disclosed a fresh net loss figure.

The €1.1 billion includes losses suffered by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Allianz expects that around €700 million of the flood losses will be from Germany, the country worst impacted by the rainfall and flooding from Bernd.

AGCS expects more than €100 million of claims from clients in Germany and the Benelux, the company said.

Allianz noted that it paid out €917 million for claims from the Elbe flooding in 2002, which including price increases could be as much as €1.76 billion today.

“Depending on which value you use for the 2002 flood, the value then or the current value, Ilse or Bernd is the biggest event so far in the entire history of Allianz,” explained Thorsten Fromhold, Head of Portfolio Management & Retrocession at Allianz Re.

Flood events like the one seen in Europe in July are expected to occur more frequently because of climate change, Allianz said.

Katherine Wenigmann, natural catastrophe (NatCat) risk expert at Allianz Re, commented, “We know that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor and that heavy precipitation events will occur more frequently. According to the latest research, climate change can cause some low-pressure systems to stall and stay over a region, resulting in large amounts of precipitation over a relatively short period of time.”

With large reinsurance recoveries set to be made by the biggest insurers in the region, European reinsurance renewal rates are expected to come under pressure to rise at 1/1 2022.

Patoma Admin by — October 25, 2021 in Insurance 0
NGX confirms Otedola acquires 5.07% stake in FBNH

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, has confirmed it received information concerning the transactions of the shares transacted by Femi Otedola.

Otedola acquired five per cent stake in First Bank of Nigeria, making him the bank’s single largest shareholder following the crisis that rocked the Board of Directors recently.

In a statement obtained from the Exchange and signed by Seye Kosoko, Company Secretary, FBNH Plc, stating : “We refer to our communication to the market dated October 22, 2021 on the above subject wherein we stated that we would inform the public of any substantial acquisition, upon receipt of notification from the shareholder.

This morning, October 23, 2021, FBN Holdings Plc received a notification from APT Securities and Funds Limited, that their Client, Mr. Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee, Calvados Global Services Limited have acquired a total of 1,818,551,625 units of shares from the Company’s issued share capital of 35,895,292,791. Based on the foregoing, the equity stake of Mr. Otedola Olufemi Peter and his nominee in the Company is now 5.07 per cent.

Meanwhile, shareholders of First Bank of Nigeria Limited have indicated that the acquisition of majority stake in the bank by the former chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Femi Otedola, if true, will unlock value for shareholders and turn the fortunes of the bank around for the better.

They posited that entrance of the billionaire business man into the bank would position the bank to retake its position as the first among equals in the Nigeria’s banking landscape.

Some of the shareholders who did not want their names disclosed said: “Otedola sold his 75 per cent direct and indirect shareholding in Forte Oil in 2019 through a merger of his business Zenon Oil with previous African Petrified Oil and they became all the more curious as to what his next move would be. He didn’t keep them guessing too long as he soon announced that he wanted to explore and maximize business opportunities in refining and petrochemicals.”

According to the shareholders: “Even though he also had investments in the real estate and financial sector, Otedola singled out First Bank for the single reason that there wasn’t exactly one man calling the shots there, unlike in other new generation banks.

“He wasted no time in taking advantage of the leadership crisis that rocked First Bank not too long ago that the Central Bank of Nigeria sacking both the chairman of the bank, Ibukun Awosika and Obafemi Otudeko, the chairman of FBN Holdings.

Otedola made his movements, and today he is a better person as a result of them.”
Speaking to Financial Vanguard on the development, Igbrude Moses, President,
Issuers and Investors Alternative Dispute Resolution Initiative (IIADRI), said: “If the speculation is true, it is a good move which I think will bring good tidings to the bank. Mr Femi Otedola has owned, and managed several businesses including transforming a weak and tired AP Plc to a brand new Forte Oil Plc.

“The experience of this transformation exercise makes me believe that his entrance into First Bank, if true, will add a lot of values and enhance shareholders and other stakeholders’ values.

“First Bank is strong and able anytime. It only needs to harmonize its strengths weaknesses, which require a strong and experienced character to lead and provide direction for the bank and these qualities Femi Otedola possesses. If First Bank, the sleeping giant, can be woken up, the banking industry will change.”

Patoma Admin by — October 23, 2021 in News 0
Waica Re wins Naipco outstanding Award for 2021

CAPTION
L- Nationsl Association of Insurance & Pension Correspondents, NAIPCO Conference Chairman, and Chairman/CEO, Prestige Insurance Brokers, Ltd, Prince Feyisayo Soyewo presenting the NAIPCO 2021 Excellence Award won by WAICA Re to Ayokunle Gbenga of WAICA Re, while the Former DG, LASPEC, Mrs Folashade Onanuga watches during the 6th Conference in Lagos.
By Favour Nnabugwu
WAICA Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re) has won the 2021 National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) Excellence Award for its outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria and West African region.
The award was presented to the company at the recently concluded 2021 NAIPCO National Conference in Lagos.
After rigorous analysis of the performance of insurance and reinsurance firms doing businesses in Nigeria by the 2021 NAIPCO Conference committee,  the reinsurance firm won on most parameters, particularly on CSR.

The firm, had, in February this year, donated office equipment worth over N10 million to the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN). Equipment donated were; 39 air conditioners; 12 desktops and 5 laptops, which further shows the company’s commitment to the Nigerian insurance industry.

Speaking on the choice of the company, the Chairman, NAIPCO, Mr. Chuks Udo Okonta, said, the two CSR Projects were critical to the choice of WAICA Re.

Stating that, it is high time corporate organisations begin to look beyond their core businesses by contributing to the society they operate through CSR initiative, he said, this will lead to gradual growth and development of the country as government cannot do it alone.

He implored other companies to emulate WAICA Re in term of professionalism and CSR, which, he said, will not only create awareness about insurance and reinsurance awareness, it will equally lead to gradual uptake of insurance products and services in the country and on the continent.

While relieving the Award, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of WAICA Re, Ezekiel Ekundayo, appreciated the association for counting the organisation worthy of the award, promising that, this will further spur the company to increase its commitment towards improving lives and reinsuring the insurance businesses across the West African Region and Africa at large.

Ekundayo, who was represented by Mr. Ayokunle Gbenga of WAICA Re stated that the corporation pays equal attention to all the countries its operating including Nigeria, which was the reason for the CSR projects embarked upon in the country. He said similar initiative has taken place in other countries in the region.

Patoma Admin by — October 23, 2021 in Insurance 0