All Posts in "Month: October 2021"

Nigerian insurers, others in Africa align with AfCFTA

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Nigerian insurers and underwiters in Africa have stated their willingness to participate more actively in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The President of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) the Group Managing Director of NEM Insurance Plc, My r Tope Smart said there was need for AIO members to work hard to ensure the situation changed for the better.

Smart stated that he will spend his first year in office focusing on five primary goals aimed at repositioning the African insurance market.

Increased awareness, digitalise action adoption, collaboration with other markets, partnership with government and regulators, and establishing customer trust are among the issues he mentioned.

In comparison to other industries such as banking and telecommunications, the insurance industry in Africa has underperformed, according to Smart.

Bemoaning the low performance of the African insurance market, he said, “Aside South Africa, Morocco, Kenya, Egypt, Malawi, Zambia and Ghana, no other African country has been able to grow penetration to 1%.”

Patoma Admin by — October 5, 2021 in Insurance 0
PenCom, EFCC collaborate to end fraud, mismanagement of pension funds

CAPTION

5th from right: Mr. Boss Mustapha (Secretary to the Government of the Federation), 6th from right: Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa (Executive Chairman, Economic & Financial Crimes Commission), 2nd from right: Mr. Clement Oyedele Akintola (Commissioner Inspectorate, National Pension Commission Representing the DG, National Pension Commission), 4th from right: Senator Michael Ama Nnachi (Representing Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption), 1st from left: Comrade Ayuba P. Wabba ( President, Nigeria Labour Congress), 2nd from left: IGP Sulaiman Abba Rtd (Chairman, Nigeria Police Force Pensions Limited), 3rd from left: Mrs. Nneka Obi-Amalu (Acting Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD), 4th from left: Prof. ACB Agbazuere (Representing Executive Governor of Abia State, 1st from right: Commodore Saburi Lawal (Chairman, Military Pensions Board).

 

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

National Pension Commission (PenCom) in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)to put an end to fraud and mismanagement of pension funds in the country

The workshop which was held today at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja, ,theme: ‘Eradication of Pension Fraud in Nigeria’,  served as a platform for sensitization and practical exchange of information on how best to eradicate Pension Fraud in Nigeria.

The Director General of the Commission, Aisha Dahir-Umar said that the workshop essentially seeks to examine the incidences of fraud in the pension sector in Nigeria and ways of eradicating the menace in a proactive manner.

She said the event will, no doubt, create the synergy needed to boost the efforts of the two organizations in the discharge of their respective statutory mandates relating to the theme of the workshop.

Represented by Mr. Clement Oyedele Akintola, Commissioner Inspectorate, she noted that the problems of fraud and mismanagement in the pension sector in Nigeria were amongst the reasons that necessitated the pension reform of 2004 by the Federal Government.

“The Pension Reform Act 2004, which was later reviewed and re-enacted in 2014, introduced legal and institutional frameworks aimed at addressing the rot that characterized the administration of pensions in the pre-reform era. The Act also established PenCom to regulate and supervise all pension matters in Nigeria, including the licensing of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).

The Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate (PTAD) was also established by the PRA 2014 to administer, in a transparent manner, the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) for pensioners exempted from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

These measures, according to her substantially restored credibility and confidence in Nigeria’s pension systems.

“Thus, we have, today, an industry that has accumulated pension assets in excess of N13 trillion, invested in various aspects of the economy and still growing.”

Pursuant to its statutory mandate under Section 23(f) of the PRA 2014, PenCom has consistently undertaken public education, enlightenment and awareness campaigns on the CPS and other pension matters. It has also developed and established structures, systems and procedures that ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the administration of pension in Nigeria.

These systems and procedures have become reference points for other African countries, many of whom have undertaken study visits to the Commission.

“However, as it is the case with every human endeavor, retrogressive elements continued to exploit procedural gaps in the operations of pension practitioners in both the CPS and DBS to the detriment of unsuspecting public.

” Thus, new issues and challenges continue to emerge, which place special responsibility on the regulators, the operators and other stakeholders to constantly review their operating environment with a view to finding solutions to address the problems.”

She further said that the PRA 2014 had strengthened Nigeria’s pension institutions in both the Contributory and Defined Benefits Schemes, and imbued them with the capacity to rise above emerging challenges. Thus, while these institutions explore their respective…, the continued collaboration with the EFCC would certainly serve as catalyst for reducing the menace of fraud in the pension industry to the barest minimum.

“We must recognize the uniqueness of today’s workshop, which has literally taken our collaboration to the next level. Stakeholders have all converge to discuss within the two days of this workshop, the entire ramifications of fraud in the pension administration space, understand the issues, share experiences and find proactive ways of preventing their occurrence. “

She also commended the foresight and dynamism of the leadership of the EFCC for accepting to collaborate with us for this workshop despite the preponderance of other daunting challenges being tackled by the EFCC in our country.

Also, Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, said the workshop would help highlight the areas of corrupt practices in Pension Administration and collectively develop strategies to curb the menace threatening the country’s pension schemes.

Patoma Admin by — October 5, 2021 in Pension 0
Nigeria serviced debt with N1.47tn in H1 2021 – DMO

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Nigeria spent N1.47tn on debt servicing payments in the first half of 2021, data obtained from the Debt Management Office have shown.

In the first quarter of the year, the country spent N1.02tn on both domestic and external debt servicing, while a total of N445.45bn was spent in the second quarter of 2021.

From January to March 2021, Nigeria spent N612.71bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $1bn (N410.33bn) on external debt servicing.

From April to June 2021, Nigeria spent N322.7bn on domestic debt servicing and $299m (N122.7bn) on external debt servicing.

The official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria ($1 is N410.33) as of October 4 was used for the external debt servicing.

For domestic debt, Nigeria spent N219.29bn in January, N125.09bn in February, N270.33bn in March, N258bn in April, N42.4bn in May, and N22.3bn in June.

In Q1, the government focused on principal repayments, while in Q2, the government focused on interest payments.
A breakdown of the statistics in Q2 shows that the Federal Government spent a total of N322.7bn on the payment of interest, with N50.3bn expended on the redemption of matured Nigeria Treasury Bills.

For external debt servicing in Q1, commercial loans had 76 per cent with a cost of $763.04m (N313.10bn), multilateral had 13 per cent with a cost of $134.04m (N55bn), and bilateral had 11 per cent with a cost of $106.33m (N43.63bn).

For external debt servicing in Q2, commercial loans had 53 per cent with a cost of $157m (N64.4bn), multilateral had 35 per cent with a cost of $103.7m (N42.5bn), and bilateral had 13 per cent with a cost of $38.2m (N15.7bn).

Patoma Admin by — October 5, 2021 in Banking & Finance 0

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved over $110 billion in loans to 86 countries of the world, to enable them tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its 2021 Annual Report, released, yesterday, the global body described the pandemic as “a crisis like no other” but it equally, “responded like no other.”

“More than a year into a crisis like no other, the IMF has mobilized a response like no other. As of end-April 2021, loans have been approved to 86 countries of more than $110 billion—a record number. But even though the recovery is underway, the economic fallout from the pandemic will be with us for years to come,” the organization said.

The over $110 billion approved for loans was separate from the new allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of $650 billion , approved for members of the IMF, in August.

According to the Fund, “At $650 billion, this is the largest allocation in the IMF’s history, and it will substantially boost the reserves and liquidity of the IMF’s member countries, without adding to their debt burdens.”

It added that it was also exploring options for those with strong financial positions to voluntarily channel SDRs to vulnerable countries.

The IMF noted that the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated existing, prepandemic vulnerabilities, and countries’ prospects were diverging.

It said, “Nearly half of emerging market and developing economies and some middle-income countries risk falling further behind, undoing much of the progress made toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“Within countries, inequality is on the rise as well; workers with fewer skills, youth, women, and those informally employed are suffering disproportionate income losses.”

The Fund said that sustaining the recovery would require an ongoing policy push, “including to secure and expand access to vaccines and to maintain economic lifelines and targeted policy support, tailored to the stage of the pandemic, the strength of the economic recovery, and countries’ structural characteristics.”

It said that the most urgent task remained to get the world vaccinated as quickly as possible, adding, “In May, IMF staff put forward a $50 billion plan that targets vaccinating at least 40 percent of the population in all countries by the end of 2021, and 60 percent by the first half of 2022—an investment that would boost global economic activity by trillions of dollars over the next few years.

“Closing this gap is key to ending the pandemic and ensuring a sustainable long-term recovery everywhere.”

A second immediate priority, the IMF said was helping countries deal with growing public debt burdens, as high levels of debt heading into the crisis left many low-income countries more vulnerable and continues to limit their ability to provide much-needed policy support.

In her message, the Managing Director of the IMF, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, said that a recovery was underway, but that the economic fallout from the global pandemic could be with world for years to come.

She pointed out that multilateral cooperation would be vital to ensure all countries have equitable access to vaccines and financially constrained economies have adequate access to international liquidity.

According to her, “As the recovery progresses, economic reforms and public investments in human capital and green and digital infrastructure should be scaled up to facilitate resource reallocation and limit long-term scarring.

“By building toward a more inclusive, digital, and green future, the world’s economies can achieve higher and more durable growth.”

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Patoma Admin by — October 5, 2021 in Banking & Finance 0
Mark Zuckerberg lost $7bn networth over worldwide outages of Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp.

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By Favour Nnabugwu
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Mark Zuckerberg has lost $7bn networth following the worldwide outages of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Patomabusinessonline reports that the Facebook CEO was downgraded to the fifth-richest person in the world on Monday evening after his company battled major technical issues.

The three social media platforms began to experience network troubles at around 4:25/pm.

The disconnection is said to have affected at least over three billion online users all over the world.

Chief Technology Officer at Facebook, Mike Schroepfe, tweeted, “Sincere apologies to everyone impacted by outages of Facebook powered services right now. We are experiencing networking issues and teams are working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible.”

According to Bloomberg, a selloff sent the social-media giant’s stock plummeting around 5% on Monday, adding to a drop of about 15 percent since mid-September.

The stock slide on Monday sent Zuckerberg’s worth down to $120.9 billion, dropping him below Bill Gates to No. 5 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s lost about $19 billion of wealth since September 13, when he was worth nearly $140 billion, according to the index.

On September 13, the Wall Street Journal began publishing a series of stories based on a cache of internal documents, revealing that Facebook knew about a wide range of problems with its products — such as Instagram’s harm to teenage girls’ mental health and misinformation about the Jan. 6 Capitol riots — while downplaying the issues in public.

The reports have drawn the attention of government officials, and on Monday, the whistleblower revealed herself for the first time and accused the social media giant of putting “profit over safety” of its users.

In response, Facebook has emphasised that the issues facing its products, including political polarisation, are complex and not caused by technology alone.

Patoma Admin by — October 5, 2021 in News 0
NCC says NIN-SIM Integration ends October 31st

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has again reminded Nigerians, especially telecom consumers that the deadline for the linking of National Identity Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) remained October 31, 2021.

This reminded was given during the NCC Digital Signature (NDS) radio programme, which hosted the 2nd episode of Telecoms Consumer Town Hall on Radio (TCTHR) live on a radio station in Lagos at the weekend to discuss benefits of NIN-SIM integration

Speaking n behalf of the Commission during the live programme, Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, advised Nigerians to make use of the extension of the NIN-SIM integration exercise to October 31, 2021, to enrol with NIMC, get their NIN and link it to their SIMs.

“Soon, people without NIN will be denied of necessary services that play vital roles in their lives, including acquisition of driver’s license, international passport,” he warned.

He listed benefits of the NIN-SIM integration to include significant enhancement of national security as NIN is the primary identity for Nigerians, stressing that in line with Federal Government’s commitment to ensure that Nigeria deploys technology to improve service delivery, the NIN-SIM database will enhance citizens’ access to government services.

TCTHR is a consumer outreach programme of the NCC previously held in semi-urban areas but now modified to be radio-based, in order to reach every telecom consumer and as part of the Commission’s response to the efforts of the Federal Government to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The first episode of the programme, aimed at empowering consumers through information sharing, education and protection initiatives, held in Kano in August, 2021 on NCC Digital Signature

Patoma Admin by — October 2, 2021 in News 0
Linkage Assurance settles N2.450bn claims from January to August 2021

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Linkage Assurance Plc paid N2.450 billion claims in the first eight months of 2021 to its numerous customers that suffered losses during the period under review.

According to the figures made available by the company, between January 2021 and August 2021, fire claims accounted for the highest share with N869 million or 35.5 per cent of the total N2.5 billion claims

Other payouts included N369 million on oil and gas risks, while another N247 million was paid on engineering risks. For motor claims, the company paid N493 million for the same period.

Further breakdown of the claims showed that general accident took N222 million; aviation got N135 million; marine had N67 million, while bond gulped N49 million.

Speaking on this, the Managing Director/CEO, Linkage Assurance Plc, Mr Daniel Braie, said the amount of claims paid in the period under review was a reflection of the company’s commitment to meet customer’s expectations despite challenges in the business environment.

“We have met the promise to meet our claims obligations because that is the reason we are in business, to ensure that our esteemed customers who suffer losses are enabled to return to their business without delays,” he said.

Mr Braie further stated that the underwriter has built the capacity to meet her obligation, provide cover in high risks areas of oil and gas, aviation, engineering among others, with strong reinsurance backing to respond to risks maturity at any given time.

“We have put in place claims management processes with a strong technology framework that ensures our customers are able to report their claims speedily from anywhere they are without having to come to our office,” the insurance expert stated.

Patoma Admin by — October 2, 2021 in Insurance 0
African pension funds achieved remarkable growth

By admin

 

The African Development Bank believes that the continent needs $ 130- $ 170 billion in infrastructure a year to provide people with roads, water, electricity and the Internet. Companies are looking for capital.

According to investment firm Ris Cura, there is no such risk in a local pension fund that collectively manages about $ 350 billion in assets in sub-Saharan Africa. Still, many local funds say they are having a hard time finding a place to invest.

Pension funds have grown tremendously in recent decades for a variety of reasons. In South Africa, the government has put cash into the civil service pension system to ease members’ concerns about losing benefits at the end of apartheid.

The successor, the Civil Service Pension Fund (GEPF) Is the largest in Africa with assets of approximately $ 110 billion. In Nigeria, the compulsory pension scheme was introduced in 2004, and the total assets of the fund have increased nine-fold over the last 15 years to $ 31 billion.

Pension schemes usually cover only a small proportion of Africans who have a formal job. But they can still be big fish in small ponds.For example, in Namibia, the value of retirement fund assets is greater than the country’s annual GDP..

What to do with all that money? Consider the choices presented by Richard Byargaba, Managing Director of the National Security Fund in Uganda. It owns one-third of the freely traded shares on the local stock exchange, which already has only 16 listed companies.

The alternative is an unlucky pension tower-like property, but building things is much more complicated than just “injecting concrete,” he points out. Therefore, 78% of the fund’s investment is in bonds and most of it is government debt (see graph). In Africa, unlike rich regions, it produces high returns.

This reliance on government securities is typical of almost all fund managers except South Africa, which has a unique deep capital market.Public Investment Corporation, which manages the assets of GEPFWill invest 41percent of its investment in listed stocks and 7 percent in unlisted portfolios. Botswana and Namibian pension pots also often invest extraordinary amounts in equities abroad.

The Botswana Civil Service Pension Fund may have bought all of the country’s debt and still have plenty of money to spare. CEO Moemedi Malindah says he wants to invest more locally, but his options are limited. I had a hard time finding private equity managers, so I had to run a program to create them.

The story of diversification into alternative assets is ahead of reality. In Nigeria, for example, pension funds invest only 0.5% of their assets in infrastructure. This is partly because fund managers don’t know how to assess risk, says Wale Okunrinboye of Sigma Pensions, one of the country’s largest funds.

The same is true when fund managers look at private equity. “Some of them want to submerge their toes, but they’re just scared,” said Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, CEO of the African Private Equity Venture Capital Association, an industry group.

There is an effort to change that. In Kenya, more than 20 pension funds have formed a consortium to invest in infrastructure, pooling the ability to detect unexploded ordnance. Governments and foreign donors are thinking of ways to take some of the risk by issuing guarantees.

The long-term investment period of the pension fund is consistent with the need for “patient capital” to build the continent. But the first job of a pension fund manager is to protect the savings of future pensioners.

The types of public-private partnerships they may invest in have had different consequences in Africa. Until they have a proven track record of success, most will simply lend to the government and have politicians build roads instead.

Patoma Admin by — October 2, 2021 in Pension 0
FAAN marks 61st Independence celebration with passengers at four international airports

By admin

 

International airports today wore a celebratory look as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) thrilled arriving passengers to music and dance as they made way into the country October 1, 2021, Independence Day.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; MallamAminu Kano International Airport, Kano and Port Harcourt International Airport Omagwa came to life with music and dance while staff of FAAN handed flags to passengers.

Passengers also joined the celebration,dancing and celebrating as they received flags and balloons.

Some expressed surprise, pride and joy at the concept  FAAN pulled off. Mrs Annamarie who spoke to NigerianFLIGHTDECK at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport said,” Well, this is relatively new and nice, to be welcomed like a hero to your country. It’s exciting and I think should be done  at all the airport not just Lagos.

A passenger who was impressed with the whole idea and couldn’t stop dancing told our reporter that,”…look we are alive. hard times come and so hard times will go.

General Manager Corporate Communication, FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu when asked the reason for the atmosphere around the nation’s airport said:

” We decided to appreciate our passengers. In spite of the hardship,In spite of the situation in the country, Nigerian are still able to afford to fly. We are celebrating passengers who use our airports for making it lively and operational because without them we wouldn’t have any airport. So we just thank our passengers for keeping our airports open, in spite everything some were happy,some danced with us.”

Patoma Admin by — October 2, 2021 in Aviation 0
Microsoft links security data with cyber underwriters to lower rates

By admin

 

 

Microsoft has teamed up with cyber insurer At-Bay to offer corporate users of Microsoft 365 lower cyber insurance rates. It marks the first of several potential partnerships with insurers that will see Microsoft link its security and software systems to assess underwriting risk, which will both boost buyers’ cybersecurity and improve affordability of cover.

At-Bay said businesses that adopt security controls, including multifactor authentication and Microsoft Defender for Office 365, will improve their defences to cyber risk and see their premiums adjusted in line with loss history and risk profiles.

“Incentivising the implementation of security controls with improved policy terms and pricing has strengthened the overall security of At-Bay’s portfolio companies. According to At-Bay, their insureds are seven times less likely to experience a ransomware incident than the industry average,” Microsoft said.

Microsoft will roll out similar models with other cyber insurers and use its products to help improve insurers’ data insights for underwriting cyber risk. Customers will be able to opt in to share data and details about their security through Microsoft 365 and its other products, which could bring down their premium rates for cyber cover.

“This model rewards customers with real savings when adopting cybersecurity best practices and gives insurers the information they need to proactively protect their customers against breaches,” Microsoft said. “Insurers struggle to acquire and use dynamic, real-time data needed to mitigate cyber risk,” added the software company.

“For cyber insurance to play a meaningful role in overall risk management, buyers and sellers need the benefit of data and clear visibility into what is covered and factors either minimising or multiplying risk exposure,” said Ann Johnson, Microsoft’s corporate vice-president of security, compliance and identity.

Microsoft is also working with At-Bay to identify other ways to improve businesses’ cyber risk exposures and address any vulnerabilities for Microsoft users.

“An insurance policy is an effective tool to articulate the impact of cybersecurity choices on the financial risk of a company. By offering better pricing to companies that implement stronger controls, we help them understand what matters in security and how best to reduce risk,” said Rotem Iram, co-founder and CEO of At-Bay. “Working with Microsoft enables us to educate customers on the powerful security controls that exist within Microsoft 365 and reward them for adopting those control.

Patoma Admin by — October 1, 2021 in Insurance 0