All Posts in "Day: March 13, 2022"

Azman Air to evacuate Nigerians from Ukraine

By admin

 

Azman Air held a rescue operation onboard an Airbus A340-600 airlifting hundreds of stranded Nigerian students, taking them away from Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues. 

Earlier today, an Azman Air’s Airbus A340-600 departed from Budapest International Airport, carrying hundreds of Nigerian citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine. The aircraft landed at the international wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja at precisely 8:41 pm, local time, according to the airline. This was the fifth humanitarian flight held by Nigerian airlines. Previously Air Peace and Max Air operated three and one services, respectively.

Over 1,000 Nigerian citizens have fled Ukraine in the last few days as Russia invades its neighbor. Many of the stranded Nigerians ended in Poland and Hungary and quickly started looking for a way to fly back home.

Since then, the Federal Government of Nigeria has begun several humanitarian flights evacuating up to 1,076 Nigerians, according to reports by local media outlets. One of those flights was operated by Azman Air, a Nigerian carrier based in Kano.

Azman Air employed its Airbus A340-600, registration 5N-AAM, to operate the humanitarian services. In a statement posted on social media, the airline said,

Patoma Admin by — March 13, 2022 in Aviation 0
Naicom envisions insurance industry in eight years to come, prepares ahead

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has envisioned insurance industry in the next eight years and preparation are in top gear to achieve the feats.

Speaking at the 2022 retreat for financial correspondents held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, AbdulRasaaq ‘Salami, Head, Corporate Communications & Market Development, on a paper titled, ‘NAICOM’s Market Development Initiatives: The Journey so Far’, all efforts are geared towards the further growth of the sector.

Salami is quite certain that the structures will also see to improvement of insurance consumer trust and confidence in the sector, increase insurance contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 0.4 per cent to over 3.0 per cent; lower insurance gap from 94 per cent to 70 per cent and increase Industry Gross Premium Income from N630 billion in 2021 to N6.0 trillion by 2030.

Some of strategic plans in place by the Commission, he said include market conduct guideline; bancassurance guideline; Takaful Insurance guideline; Microinsurance guideline; RBS Framework/Own Risk Assessment (ORSA); Nigerian Insurance Industry ICT guideline, as strategies the industry can apply to achieve the growth it desired by 2030.

Others are: Guideline on Insurance of Government Assets; Insurance Web Aggregators Operational guideline; establishment of Liaison with target state government – Lagos, Ekiti, Kano, and others; implementation machineries in place; sensitisation of NMSMEs on insurance products and benefits inherent in their consumption – Kano, Abuja, Lagos and insurance education of members of the public at the rudimental level (Sponsorship of radio and TV programmes).

He said market development is a costly affair and requires huge capital to keep going thus, funding is critical, adding that however, NAICOM will continue to work with all stakeholders to develop strategic, sustainable and implementable initiatives for deepening insurance penetration to enable optimal contribution to the Nigerian economy.

‘Salami submitted that various actions to expand the reach or tap into a different segment/unexplored market (Retail end) and, other activities aimed at achieving insurance market development, have been put in place.

Naicom will not work in isolation of all stakeholders while assuring that the commission will continue to work with all stakeholders to develop strategic, sustainable and implementable initiatives for deepening insurance penetration to enable optimal contribution to the Nigerian economy.

He noted that NAICOM has put in place structures to promote insurance as a tool for stimulating growth of other sectors and raise funds for project development at the Federal and State levels, so as to create over 250,000 new jobs.

Continuing, he also identified, licensed of four Takaful insurance companies and six Microinsurance companies to transact businesses in Nigeria; processing of other four Microinsurance and three Takaful applications at various approval stages; collaboration and written approval of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to partner the Commission on its enforcement of compulsory insurances across the country.

Sensitisation of Directors and Insurance Desk Officers of MDAs; Joint committees established with MFCT on one hand and the Federal Ministry of Transport on the other; joint engagements with the Federal and State Fire Services for the commencement of enforcement of Public Building Liability Insurance and interface with the FRSC to strengthen implementation of the compulsory 3rd party motor Insurance.

Salami also identified licensing & authorization module of NAICOM Portal which has been completed and deployed; commenced development of the Supervisory Returns Phase of the Portal and launched of the Insurtech accelerator platform – Bimalab Nigeria project on 9th February 2022 in partnership with Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa.

Patoma Admin by — March 13, 2022 in Insurance 0
Naicom dares insurance companies to step up for ranking

By Favour Nnabugwu
The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has thrown a challenge to insurance companies to step up their operations.
As the Commission will start to rank companies according to their ability to satisfy customers through the number of claims they received and the number they satisfactorily settled in a year.
Based on the challenge, insurance will soon be graded according to their claims settlement and Naicom will make such ranking public
The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, said this at the 2022 retreat for financial correspondents in Uyo on Friday theme: Improving Insurance Access through Market Development and Innovation in 2022 and Beyond”
This is part of the effort of the Commission to make the menace of non-claims settlement to the zero level in the industry.
Thomas said, “The Commission is trying to open up the market across the geo-political zones by reaching out to the states where insurance penetration is perceived to be very low”
”We expect the industry to respond to these efforts by bridging the supply gap and ensure they follow up on the Commission’s move to create awareness among high ranking policy makers”
This is to prove that the industry is ready for the booming opportunities awaiting them across the country. Let me inform you that the Commission will soon be unveiling its sandbox to give room for innovative expansion of insurance reach out.
”The web aggregators’ guideline is also aimed at opening access to insurance and also a means of creating a convenient market for insurance.
We can gladly say that the Nigerian Insurance market has undergone substantial structural and regulatory reforms over the years following the market development initiatives being implemented,” he said.
Recounting the change in the industry, the CFI said, “The Nigerian insurance market market has undergone substantial structural and regulatory reforms over the years following the market development initiatives being implemented and the evolution of Nigeria’s financial sector in the last decade which has been characterised by digital transformation.”
On the strive to grow the industry further, he emphasised that it is a collective contribution from the industry, Naicom and the Media yo take the sector to where it deserve in the economy.

“Our (Commission and the media) collective efforts at ensuring the development and growth of the insurance sector will definitely translate to the growth and development of the nation’s economy.” he said

Patoma Admin by — March 13, 2022 in Insurance 0
Keynote address of CFI, Sunday Thomas @ Retreat for Financial Journalists in Uyo

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR INSURANCE, MR. OLORUNDARE SUNDAY THOMAS AT THE RETREAT FOR FINANCIAL JOURNALIST HELD IN UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE, ON FRIDAY 11TH MARCH 2022.

Protocol

Gentlemen of the press, it is my pleasure and honour to welcome you to this year’s retreat in this beautiful city of Uyo the capital of Akwa Ibom State. The retreat has always been a fora we wine, dine and share information and ideas on the Commission’s approach to insurance regulation, progress and challenges to keep ourselves better educated in how we should report matters.

The theme for this year’s retreat “Improving Insurance Access through Market Development and Innovation in 2022 and beyond” is specially couched to consolidate on my administration cardinal agenda of developing the market and deepening penetration.

I am grateful to you all for taking time off your busy schedule to be here with us. Our collective efforts at ensuring the development and growth of the insurance sector will definitely translate to the growth and development of the Nation’s economy. As you are aware, the Commission has been implementing various market developmental initiatives to lift the insurance sector to a global standard through:
1. Risk Based Supervision Framework.
2. Encourage investment in digital capabilities and automation – e.g. launching of NAICOM Portal, launch of the Bimalab Project on the 9th of February, 2021.
3. Enforcement of the compulsory insurance products in Nigeria – via partnership with agencies and states.
4. Capacity development programmes – Actuarial, competency framework etc.
5. Sensitisation of various stakeholders – MSMEs on benefits of insurance, MDAs Insurance Desk Officers etc.
6. Introduction of regulatory reforms and policies e.g issuance of web aggregators’ guidelines.

We can gladly say that the Nigerian Insurance market has undergone substantial structural and regulatory reforms over the years following the market development initiatives being implemented and the evolution of Nigeria’s financial sector in the last decade which has been characterized by digital transformation.

The Commission is trying to open up the market across the geo-political zones by reaching out to the states where insurance penetration is perceived to be very low. We expect the industry to respond to these efforts by bridging the supply gap and ensure they follow up on the Commission’s move to create awareness among high ranking policy makers in order to prove that the industry is ready for the booming opportunities awaiting them across the country. As I said earlier, the project with the Kano State Government is a litmus test for us as an industry.

The importance of insurance post COVID19 and the aftermath of endSARS protest cannot be overemphasize hence, the marginal increase in the uptake of policies boosting the retail market and the annuity component. The recently released industry statistics has shown some growth in the sector. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics figures has shown that the sector has recorded positive increase in almost all parameters and have rated the sector as one of the fastest growing sectors in activities. Even though we are climbing the ladder, we all know that there is need for us to do much better as our potentials are huge.

Our efforts in the development of the market is an all inclusive one from the creation of avenues to deepen insurance penetration to increasing access to insurance products via digital platforms and increasing visibility of insurance across the nooks and crannies of the country. The Commission recently partnered with Financial Sector Deepening Africa, FSD Africa to launch the Bimalab Nigeria, a program aimed at accelerating the insurtech innovation. Let me inform you that the Commission will soon be unveiling the Commission’s sandbox to give room for innovative expansion of insurance reach out.

The web aggregators’ guideline is also aimed at opening access to insurance and also a means of creating a convenient market for insurance. Presentations are going to be made by subject matter experts on these issues and I believe more light will be thrown and you have the opportunity to ask questions so that you leave here more informed about the Commission’s objectives and priorities.

As you can see so far, the Commission is focusing on using technology to boost access to insurance as that seems the way to go under the prevailing circumstance. We are exploring ways to take insurance to where the other financial sectors are or even surpass that mark. Financial transactions are more of a one-stop shop for everything and is either we key in or we lose the business to more innovative outlets that will seize it from us.

Claims payment has always been one aspect the industry is battling to balance. We all agree that we cannot claim ignorance of the fact that the industry is paying huge claims out there even though activities of few amongst the operators is jeopardising the efforts of the majority. We had before now agreed to start ranking companies on the number of claims received and settled on annual basis and we intend to publish such ranking for the insurance consumers. It is always an issue that put the entire industry on the edge. The Commission is doing all it can to see that the non-settlement of claims is brought to its barest minimum in the sector.

I must commend you people for the wonderful job of promoting insurance in every opportunity you have. Indeed information is key to the success of governance and business and thus you formed an integral part of the industry. I thank you for this selfless service and believe that you will leave this retreat with better understanding of the Commission’s perspective on insurance development and increasing access to insurance services.

Wishing you a successful retreat and wonderful stay in Uyo.

O. S. Thomas
Commissioner for Insurance

Patoma Admin by — March 13, 2022 in Insurance 0