NIMET forecast high temperature for Ogun, most northern States

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency ,NiMET, yesterday released a forecast of a high temperature of over 35°C in Ogun State and most Northern states of Nigeria.

The forecast released by Prof. Mansur Matazu, the Director-General, NiMET, said that the affected States would experience some high intensity for the next two days and this will commence from Tuesday till Wednesday in most regions of the north.

The forecast also said that the ” northern region would experience temperatures greater than 35°C, but less than 40°C for the two days.”

Matazu listed the affected states to include ” North-East; Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, the Eastern part of Jigawa, Northern Adamawa and Northern Taraba,” stressing that the areas would have temperatures in the excess of 35°C.

Also, “Sokoto, the western part of Zamfara and the Eastern half of Kebbi, in the North East are expected to experience temperatures in the excess of 35°C during the forecast period”.

He further said : “In the central part of the country, Niger, Northern part of Kwara, west of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), southern Plateau, North-East of Kogi, and North-west of Benue are all expected to experience high temperatures.”

“High-temperature greater than 40°C is expected over parts of Niger state. However, other parts of Niger, FCT, northern Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Nasarawa, and eastern Plateau in the central states are expected to experience temperatures above 35°C.”

“Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara in the northwest as well as northern Jigawa, southern Yobe, Borno, Gombe, eastern Bauchi, northern Adamawa, and northern Taraba in the northeast is expected to record temperatures greater than 35°C. Ogun State in the South West of Nigeria could experience 35°C,” he added.

New Omicron COVID variant detected in 2 travellers from Nigeria in Canada

By admin

 

 

Canada’s Ministry of Health has confirmed two cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in two individuals who recently travelled from Nigeria to the country.

A statement by Ontario Ministry of Health said the two travellers had already been isolated.

“Today, the province of Ontario has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Ottawa, both of which were reported in individuals with recent travel from Nigeria”, the ministry said.

“Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation.

“In addition to the measures recently announced, we continue to urge the federal government to take the necessary steps to mandate point-of-arrival testing for all travellers irrespective of where they’re coming from to further protect against the spread of this new variant,” it said.

Also, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos also confirmed Canada’s first two cases in a statement on Sunday evening, saying he is working with the province’s public health officials to contact trace the cases.

“As the monitoring and testing continues with provinces and territories, it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada.”

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has labelled the Omicron variant as a variant of concern.

Persecondnews recalls that it was first reported by South African scientists with over 100 cases already logged.

To contain its spread, the EU, U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, UAE have announced travel ban on Southern African countries

FAAN alerts relevant agencies on Covid-19 new variant, omicron

By Favour Nnabugwu
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN , said all relevant agencies in charge of health checks at the nation’s airports have  been placed on high alert to prevent the importation of the new covid-19 new variant, Omicron, into the country.
This just as the civil aviation regulator, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, said it is waiting to enforce any directive from the Presidential Steering Committee on Covid-19 on measures to prevent the spread of the new variant into the country.
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs Herrietta Yakubu stated that the agencies and Port Health officials have been given the clear order to ensure no passengers from the affected countries enter the country unscreened.
Mrs Yakubu said : “There will be an enforcement of all the Protocols and procedures put in place for the covid-19 already on ground.”
“All the Agencies concerned and Port Health, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, FAAN ,etc have been all put on notice to ensure no passenger comes into the Country with this variant.”
Also speaking with Vanguard, the General Manager Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr Sam Adurogboye said the regulator is waiting for directives from the Presidential Committee on Covid-19.
He said all measures and directives usually come from the Committee and it directs NCAA on what to enforce. “We are waiting for the Presidential Steering Committee to issues directives on ways to prevent the spread of the new variant to Nigeria. NCAA can only enforce the federal government directives,” Adurogboye emphasised.
Recall on Sunday, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, said in a statement  that the centre is  “prioritising sequencing of recently accrued samples from SARS-COV-2 positive travellers from all countries, especially those from countries that have reported the Omicron variant already.”
Though Canada said on Sunday it has detected its first cases of the new Omicron strain of Covid in two people who had travelled recently to Nigeria,
the Federal Government had claimed that the new COVID-19 variant was not in Nigeria yet.
Several countries receive InsurTech accelerator support

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

FSD (Financial Sector Deepening) Africa, an Africa-focused UK government funding agency, will extend its InsurTech accelerator program next year, targeting Ghana and Nigeria.

The agency is working with several insurance regulators, including those in Ghana and Nigeria, to create an environment conducive to technological innovation in insurance on the continent.

The plan follows the roll-out of an insurance accelerator program in Kenya earlier this year, reported Techcrunch.com.

Under the acceleration programs, FSD Africa provides participants, including teams from selected InsurTechs, with knowledge and resources to develop and prepare their solutions for the African market.

InsurTechs introduce personalised policies using data from wearable technology and social platforms. They offer innovative products operating on the basis of micro-payments or pay-per-use, which increasingly influences market trends.

Venture capital and other support

In addition to installing the accelerator, FSD Africa wants to set up access to capital through a venture capital fund for InsurTechs on the continent in the start-up phase. In addition, a platform will be put online where the various players in the sector can exchange views to share their experiences or forge partnerships to support the growth of their various businesses.

Germany to subside disaster risk in ARC member states

The German government has announced funds of EUR18m ($20.4m) to subsidise the cost of disaster risk insurance for qualifying African Risk Capacity (ARC) member states.

Dr Maria Flachsbarth, the parliamentary state secretary to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), said this on the margins of the United Nations 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) earlier this month.

 

TatessFollowing the COVID-19 pandemic, many African governments have severely constrained budgets and humanitarian agencies are struggling to meet unprecedented levels of need. This new funding will subsidise insurance premiums, decreasing in future years as countries and organisations are able to take over the costs using their national budgets and long-term sustainable financing.

ARC

ARC, an African Union (AU) initiative led by 35 AU member states, provides insurance for droughts and tropical cyclones. The standard approach to pay for climate disasters is slow and unpredictable, using humanitarian appeals or loans arranged after a disaster strikes. ARC replaces these outdated approaches by offering governments and humanitarian actors the opportunity to plan and purchase insurance that can provide fast payouts, quickly reaching people who need support.

Since 2014, 62 policies have been signed by member states for cumulative insurance coverage of $720m for the protection of 72m vulnerable people in participating countries.

ARC Group consists of ARC Agency and ARC Insurance Company (ARC Ltd). ARC Agency was established in 2012 as a specialised AU agency to help the member states improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to weather-related disasters. ARC Ltd is a mutual insurance facility providing risk transfer services to member states through risk pooling and access to reinsurance markets.

NCRIB, BIBA tightens collaboration for growth

CAPTION:

L- Managing Director, Risk Analyst Insurance Brokers, Dr. (Mrs.) Funmi Babington-Asaye; President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Rotimi Edu; Chief Executive, British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), Steve White and Managing Director, Leverage Insurance Brokers Limited, Hon Lanre Laoshe during a courtesy visit of NCRIB delegates to BIBA Office in London.

 

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has tightened its collaboration with British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) for the betterment of the association

The President of the Council, Rotimi Edu, during his visit to BIBA in London said there were increasing areas of collaboration between the NCRIB and BIBA in the light of unfolding challenges post by the post COVID-19 era.

Edu, who appreciated the past support of BIBA to the Council noted that the NCRIB Members would latch more on the expertise of BIBA Members in strategic areas such as Oil & Gas, Risk Management and Strategic Leadership.

On the forth coming BIBA Conference, the NCRIB President, Edu promised that the Council’s delegates will make an impressive appearance in other to take advantage of the focus of the Conference.

Responding, the Chief Executive of BIBA, Steve White congratulated Mr. Edu for emerging as the President of the Council and reaffirmed BIBA’s readiness to share knowledge and data with the Council when and where necessary.

The President was joined by Dr. (Mrs) Funmi Babington-Ashaye, Managing Director, Risk Analyst Insurance Brokers and Hon. Lanre Laoshe of Leverage Insurance Brokers.

CBN defends Naira with $2.1bn to halt further depreciation

By Sandra Adesiyan

 

In an effort to keep the Naira from crashing further the Central Bank of Nigeria(CbN) pumped $2.1 billion to the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market in the first seven months of 2021.

The amount was an increased by 238 percent when compared with the $621.1 million injected to defend it in the same window in in the corresponding period of 2020 (7mths-2020).

It also represented a 47 percent increase when compared with the $1.43 billion injected in the first 7 months of 2019.

These figures were obtained from CBN’s monthly economic report published on its website.

According to CBN data, the highest amount injected this year was $474.65 million in April while the lowest amount of $195.91 million was recorded in June.

While the intervention helped keep Naira hovering around N412 to 414, it came at a cost of depleting reserves that was replenished with debts.

You will recall that last month, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to allow market forces control the exchange rate.

He said: The real issue confronting the economy on this matter is how to improve the supply of foreign exchange, but this will not happen if we do not allow mechanisms like the Importers and Exporters window to work. If we allow this market mechanism to work as intended, we will find that the Naira will appreciate against the dollar as we restore confidence in the system.”

Although CBN had adopted the flexible I & E window as its official exchange rate, it remained the single source of dollar supply thereby having a significant influence on how the market turns out daily.

World Bank says CBN FX policies discourage foreign investment, fuel inflation 

The World Bank has stated that  the Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate management  policies continue to discourage investment and fuel inflation.

This was disclosed by the World Bank  in the November 2021 edition of its Nigeria Development Update tagged “Time for Business Unusual”.

The World Bank said the whole of Nigeria’s debt burden remains manageable for the time being, maintaining sustainable debt dynamics will require curbing the use of CBN financing for the deficit and addressing fiscal pressures to break the cycle of low growth and rising public debt.

What the World Bank is saying  The primary macroeconomic challenges disturbing growth, according to the World Bank, are issues around the predictability and credibility of exchange-rate management, as well as an insufficient supply of foreign exchange (FX).

The report stated, “The government’s exchange rate management policies continue to discourage investment and fuel inflation. Exchange rate stability is a key CBN policy objective, and to preserve its external reserves the CBN continues to manage FX demand and limit the supply of FX to the market.”  

The World Bank stated that the Nigerian central bank’s exchange rate cannot handle external shocks to the economy, as exchange-rate management emerges as one of the key drivers of inflation.

“Pressure on the naira (₦) remains intense,  while the CBN has raised the nominal official exchange rate three times since the start of the pandemic (by 15% in March 2020, 5 per cent in August 2020, and 7% in May 2021), FX management remains too rigid to respond to external shocks. Meanwhile, exchange-rate management has emerged as one of the key drivers of inflation,” the World Bank added .

Naira lost pace against the US dollar at the parallel market, falling to as low as N560/$1 from N545/$1 that it had maintained in almost two weeks. There is still a significant gap between the N415.07/$1, at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window and the parallel despite cries of devaluation.

‘Over 97% of eligible depositors fully covered by NDIC’

Over 97 per cent of eligible bank deposits are fully covered by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the Managing Director of the organisation, Bello Hassan, disclosed at the weekend.

Hassan, who spoke at an editors’ forum in Lagos, said the Corporation has covered 99.4 per cent, 97.6 per cent, 97.5 per cent and 97.6 per cent of accounts of N500, 000 coverage limit in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.

The coverage, he said, was enough to boost confidence in the banking sector.

“The Corporation’s deposit insurance coverage limits are not only adequate but robust enough to engender confidence in our banking system. For instance, in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, the total number of accounts in the deposit money banks stood at N83 million, N99.1 million, N112 million and N128.4 million respectively,” he noted.

Hassan highlighted several ongoing reviews on NDIC’s processes and approaches to further de-risk the banking and protect the Corporation.

He said part of the review would ensure that “the probability of the risk crystallising becomes a major factor in the pricing methodology of our premium going forward.

He stated, “On timely support to insured institutions, we have identified the need to reconsider our criteria for qualification of financial institutions to provide realistic terms and conditions to facilitate prompt access to technical and/or financial support in line with Section (2)(1)(b) of the NDIC Act whilst also protecting the Corporation from possible downside risk.”

He noted the various settlements made by the Corporation, saying it has accomplished “the payment of guaranteed sums and liquidation dividends speaks volumes of its commitment to the discharge of its unique mandate. NDIC had paid a cumulative sum of ₦N8.268 billion to 443,946 insured depositors and ₦100.08 billion to uninsured depositors of deposit money banks (DMBs) in-liquidation as of September 30, 2021, while N3.413 billion was paid to 90,945 insured depositors of microfinance banks and ₦1.218 million to uninsured depositors.

“In the same vein, the cumulative insured amount paid to 1,553 depositors of closed primary mortgage banks as of September 30, 2021, stood at N110.15 million while ₦N7.965 million was paid as uninsured deposits.

“Most importantly, the payment of N1.274 billion to 991 creditors and ₦4.886 billion to 965 shareholders of banks in-liquidation as of September 30, 2021, underscored the Corporation’s success story in bank liquidation. What this implies is that the Corporation had realised enough assets to pay all the insured and uninsured depositors of the banks that present themselves for payment. Currently, 19 out of the 49 DMBs in-liquidation fall into this category.”

The Director, Insurance and Surveillance Department, Galadima Gana, said Nigerian banks were stable. He listed symptoms of a failing bank as illiquidity, increased petitions by aggrieved customers who cannot withdraw, distress borrowing at the money/interbank market and frequent requests for cash assistance from the regulatory authorities.

Others listed are patronage of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s discount window, low earnings/huge operational losses, inability to meet the regulatory thresholds and high staff turnover.

According to Gana, the total deposits of banks in liquidation from 1994 till date is N228.42 billion. The amount cut across DMBs, microfinance and primary mortgage banks. The amount, he said, is owned by 3.94 million depositors.

The insured paid amount, according to statistics presented, was N11.79 billion while the uninsured paid deposit was N107.25 billion, bringing the cumulative amount paid by the Corporation to 119.04 billion.

91 jet owners fail NCS verification test, FG directed immediate grounding

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

A total number of 91, out of 147, identified owners and operators of private jets have failed a verification test conducted by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in October.

Under a directive from the Federal Government, Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali, (retd.), has issued a letter to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to ground the said private jets immediately.

Owners of 62 jets refused to attend the mandatory verification exercise. A total of 86 private jets and aircraft operators showed up and only 57 were verified as commercial charter operators.

“29 other private jets/aircraft were found liable for payment of Customs duty,” said Comptroller Joseph Attah, Public Relations Officer of Customs. The NCS issued a 14-day ultimatum for payment of duties and submission of verification papers back in October.

Some unidentified sources in NCS disclosed that the senior Pentecostal churches pastors, the chief executive officers of several indigenous oil companies, and the chairmen of some top tier banks are among these owners.

NCS further revealed that the refusal to pay import duties by these 91 owners is running to over N30bn. Several of these owners have sent protest letters to the NCS, stating that they cannot pay import duties on the planes because they are under lease payments.

Furthermore, several aviation sources said that the Ministry of Aviation is showing strong indications that it has directed the suspension of the grounding of the flight operations.