All Posts in "Day: May 12, 2022"

FUTA gets first female Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adenike Oladiji

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Governing Council of the Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA has appointed the first female Vice Chancellor,    Professor (Mrs) Adenike Temidayo Oladiji for the University.

Prof. Oladiji is the eighth substantive Vice Chancellor of the University, of the Department of Biochemistry, University of Ilorin.

The Council, presided over by the Pro-Chancellor, Chairman of Council, Ambassador (Dr.) Godknows Igali, ratified the appointment at its Special Meeting.

According to the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Richard Arifalo, twenty candidates out of twenty seven male and one female candidates were shortlisted by the council at the commencement of the process

Arifalo said that “19 candidates were interviewed with one of the shortlisted candidates failing to show up.

“At the end of the interview the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board recommended three candidates for appointment in line with extant regulations governing the process.

“Because of the closeness of the score of the three recommended candidates, a difference of 0.1%, Council decided to put it to vote and Professor Oladiji came out tops, hence her appointment.

” Under extant laws, appointment of Vice Chancellors of Universities is domiciled with the Governing Council of Universities which, on the advice of an internal selection committee, has the power to choose from any of the three best candidates submitted to it.

Arifalo added that ” a letter of appointment personally signed by Ambassador (Dr.) Igali, Professor Oladiji’s appointment which takes effect from Tuesday May 24, 2022 is for a single term of five years.

Oladiji who was born on 27th April, 1968, attended Christ Anglican School, Ijomu-Oro, Iludun Oro Nursery and Primary School between 1972 and 1977 and St. Claire’s Anglican Grammar School, Offa from 1977 to 1982, all in Kwara State, for her secondary education.

She holds a B.Sc Biochemistry, Second Class Upper Division Degree from the University of Ilorin, 1988, MSc. Biochemistry, University of Ilorin, 1991 and Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ilorin, 1997.

She joined the services of the University of Ilorin in July 1992 as Assistant Lecturer and was appointed a Professor in September 2011.

She has over 29 years of continuous service in the university system. She has held various positions and served on almost all University Committees as Chairman and Member.

She has also served in various capacities including Head of Department; Sub Dean of Faculty; Deputy Director, Center for International Education; Director, Center for Research and Development and In-House Training; Director, Central Research Laboratory; Dean, School Of Basic Medical Sciences (Kwara State University); Dean, School of Life Sciences and Member, Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa and Crown Hill University, Eiyenkorin, Ilorin.

A prolific reseacher with over 100 publications, Professor Oladiji has won many distinctions and awards which include University’s Merit Award, Certificate of Merit and scholarships among others.

She is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science and Fellow, Nigerian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She has served as Member of various Scienctific Committees at the National Universities Commission, NUC, Tertiary Education Fund, TetFund and has been an external examiner in over 20 Universities in Nigeria and outside the country.

She is happily married and blessed with children.

Professor Oladiji succeeds Professor Joseph Fuwape, whose term ends on Monday, 23rd May, 2022. End

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Education 0
Onyema confers with National Productivity Order of Merit Award

Onyema receives National Productivity Order of Merit award

By Lawani Mikairu

The Chairman of Air Peace, Barrister Allen Onyema, has been conferred with a National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) award by President Muhammadu Buhari .

The conferment took place today at the 19th National Productivity Day ceremony in Abuja.The award, within the Employers of Labour category, is in recognition of “Onyema’s giant strides in entrepreneurship, massive job creation and overall economic achievements”.

Other distinguished personalities in the same category are Mike Adenuga, Jim Ovia, Abdul Samad Rabiu and Chinedum Okereke.
Receiving the award, the aviation cognoscente thanked President Buhari and the Ministry of Labour headed by Senator Chris Ngige and reiterated his commitment to the Nigerian project.

He said he would continue to use his entrepreneurship to impact Nigera’s economy and carry out more social impact initiatives, adding that “Nigeria is our country and we all must do all we can to take her to greater heights’.

Recall while speaking to journalists in Abuja at an event to herald the NPOM Award ceremony, Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said the conferment of National Productivity Order of Merit Award was a positive step by government to ” institutionalise productivity consciousness and excellence in service among workers and organisations in Nigeria towards redirecting their efforts to the growth and development of our economy”.

Ngige also said the other objectives of the Award are to ” reward the most productive workers and organisations in both public and private sectors for diligence, high performance, high productivity and research achievements.

” To also encourage and foster the spirit of healthy competition amongst workers, firms and companies in Nigeria, and encourage the spirit of self-reliance.”

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Aviation 0
NEPZA applauds FG for Calabar, Kano FTZs as best industrialisation agenda

By Favour Nnabugwu
The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, has declared the two public free trade zones is the country’s best industrialisation agenda
The Managing Director of NEPZA, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, made the remark about the Calabar and Kano free trade zones during a road-show for the concession of the two zones in Lagos.
The event was organized by the National Council on Privatisation through its secretariat, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), with the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment and NEPZA.
It was aimed at further attracting investors and their sundry partners to take up the ownership of the zones.
Adesugba said the planned handshake with the would-be concessionaires would positively impact on the operation of the 30-year old public facilities for global competition.
“The two zones are highly viable because of many reasons, including their vital locations, easy access to raw materials, seaports, airports, outside infrastructure, labour and importantly the boisterous nature of the two commercial cities.
“The Authority is, therefore, available to support and assist the new owners, to speedily surmount challenges that may come with taking up the management of this kind of business.
“I want to assure the private sector and particularly, companies that are set to file their bids, to count themselves lucky because of the great requisite return on investment the facilities will be offering,’’ he said.
Adesugba added that the scheme offered complete tax holiday from all Federal, State and Local Government taxes, rates, customs duties and levies.
He said the duty-free import of capital goods, consumer goods, machinery, equipment and furniture were guaranteed, adding that the scheme also permitted 100 per cent foreign ownership of investments.
NEPZA’s  MD said duty on exports into the customs territory was calculated on the value of originally imported component raw materials and not on the value of finished goods.
He added that the scheme provided an opportunity to export items on Nigeria’s import prohibition list, provided that it could be proven that at least 35 per cent value had been added to promote local content.
“The scheme offers permission to sell 100 per cent of manufactured, assembled or imported goods into the domestic market and it guarantees 100 per cent repatriation of capital and profit.
“It was imperative for the private sector to now leverage on these incentives as the scheme allows them to ride on the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) framework to freely access the continent’s huge market,” he said.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, in an address, said the unrelenting efforts of the National Council on Privatization had made the process leading to the concession of the two zones seamless so far.
The minister said that the decision to privatise them was hinged on the Federal Government’s preparedness to produce world-class free zones that the country could use to solve some of it’s economic challenges.
“Government’s stance to allow for a transparent process that would bring up virile concessionaires, with the right capacity, expertise and finance to convert the zones to national economic asset, capable of generating employment for the teeming youth and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is topmost.”
Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Industry, Trade & Investment 0
All RSAs to go for data recapturing with PFAs – PenCom

By Favour Nnabugwu

All Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders  are to partake n the ongoing Data Recapture Exercise (DRE) with their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) as advised the National Pension Commission, PenCom.

The DRE is in compliance with the directive of the Federal Government that all data generating organisations should harmonise their databases with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). It
is also consistent with the need to have a credible database of all RSA holders in Nigeria.

The commission in a statement said the exercise was  for both active contributors and retirees whose data have not been recaptured.

Consequently, the PenCom urged all active contributors to visit their PFAs and provide the following documents to complete the data recapture: Staff Identity Card or any one of the following: National Driver’s License; or Permanent Voter’s Card; or International Passport (mandatory for non-Nigerians). Enrollment Slip issued by NIMCB; irth Certificate or Sworn Affidavit of Age Declaration. 

For retirees, who are either on programmed withdrawal or annuity, the Commission said they were expected to present the following documents:

National Driver’s License or any one of the following: Permanent Voter’s Card; or  International Passport (mandatory for non-Nigerians) Enrollment Slip issued by NIMC
and Letter of Retirement issued by the employer to the retiree.

All RSA holders, who have had a name change (either their surnames or first names or both after registration), they should present the following documents to their PFAs: Marriage Certificate (only applicable in the case of marriage); Newspaper publication for change of name; Sworn affidavit; Confirmation letter for change of name from employer (if still in employment)

All PFAs have been directed by PenCom to issue Acknowledgement Slips to RSA holders who submit complete documents for their data recapture. The RSA holders will be notified of the status of their data recapture (successful or not successful) within five working days of submission of documents.

Two agents, Payone Solution Systems Limited and Afritech Multi Concept Limited, have been engaged by PFAs to carry out the DRE consistent with PenCom’s approval. The agents are authorised to establish data recapture centres. RSA holders are allowed, therefore, to have their data recaptured at such centres by the agents (if they are unable to visit the offices of their PFAs).

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Pension 0
AGCS GWP rises by €87m in Q1 2022

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) records an increase of €87million in it gross premium written to €3.025 billion from  (Q1 2021: €2.938 billion).

This was mainly driven by continued Effective Rate Changes of 14% for renewal business (incl. adjustment of terms & conditions) and a positive new business development – mainly driven by Financial Lines, Property and Liability. New business rose to €383million in the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2021: €251 million).

The combined ratio for Q1 2022 is 3.3%-p better than prior year and stands at 95.0% (Q1 2021: 98.3%). The improvement over the previous year is mainly driven by a favourable NatCat experience in the first quarter of 2022, supported by positive expense ratio developments. Q1 figures also include a provision for expected claims relating to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Further details on AGCS’ limited Ukraine exposure are provided by Chief Claims Officer Thomas Sepp.

The operating profitof €134 million (2021: €81 million) is €53 million above prior year due to the better underwriting performance and relatively benign claims activity in the first quarter of 2021

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Insurance 0
Global insurtech sector attracts record breaking US$15.8bn in funding in 2022

By admin

 

Global investment in insurtechs broke all records in 2021. Total funds invested, at US$15.8bn, was the highest annual capital inflow ever – more than in 2020 and 2019 combined.

The year’s 564-deal total broke a further record. New highs were also seen for international participation, unicorn creation, IPOs, and single-deal size, with Integrity Marketing Group’s US$1.2bn in December among these.

This is according to figures from Gallagher Re’s Global Insurtech Report, which shows that, over the course of 2021, some US$9.4bn was invested into P/C insurtechs, with the balance of US$6.4bn – about 40.5% of the total, following a huge uptick in Q4 – directed into life and health companies.

The rise in total funding in the final quarter of last year was driven by 13 ‘mega-round’ deals – accounting for 71% of the US$5.3bn invested in that period.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Andrew Johnston, global head of insurtech at Gallagher Re, said: “An incredible upwards trajectory of global InsurTech funding has occurred during the past nine years, after we started tracking it in 2012, culminating in the record-breaking US$15.8bn total for 2021. By the end of 2021, an enormous US$41.65bn had been invested globally into insurtechs across 2,249 deals in 63 countries. It included 99 mega-round deals, which accounted for US$21.88bn of the total. Therefore, more than half of all the investment (52%) deployed during this period went into only 4.4% of all InsurTech deals.

“Insurtech investment growth over the past decade has been incredibly impressive, and there’s no slowing down for the time being, with the first quarter of 2022 recording US$2.2bn worldwide. While ‘only’ 43% of the total global investment recorded when compared with the prior quarter [2021 Q4], 2022 Q1 saw parity between quarters in terms of total deal flow, with a very impressive 143 deals recorded.”

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Insurance 0
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product increases by 4.03% In 2021 – NBS

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 4.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, according the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the report, in the third quarter of 2021, Nigeria’s real GDP at basic prices grew by 4.03 per cent on a year-on-year basis showing a steady improvement from the economic downturn in 2020.

The NBS said that growth improved further in the fourth quarter of 2021 with a positive GDP growth rate of 3.98 per cent.

The report said: “in the third quarter of 2021, Nigeria real GDP at basic prices grew by 4.03% on a year-on-year basis showing a steady improvement from the economic downturn in 2020. Growth however, improved further in fourth quarter 2021 with positive GDP growth rate of 3.98%. The negative quarterly growths in Q2 and Q3 2020 resulted in a recession, which led to a negative annual growth rate of -1.92% for 2020, compared to 2.27% in 2019 on a year-on-year basis.

Annual growth of 2021 stood at 3.40%, an improvement of 2020. Compared to the third and fourth quarters of 2020, the performance in 2021 indicated an increase of 7.65% points and 3.87% points higher, respectively.

“Household Consumption Expenditure, in Q3 and Q4 2021 grew by 19.36% and 7.30% in real terms, year on year. For 2021, the annual growth rate in real household consumption expenditure stood at 25.65% compared to -1.69% in 2020. Government Consumption Expenditure recorded growth rates of -39.51% and -16.76% in Q3 and Q4 2021 respectively, year on year, while annual growth rate stood at -34.03% in 2021 compared to 61.58% in 2020.

Net Exports recorded positive growth rates in the first two quarters of 2020 and shifted to negative growth rates in third and fourth quarters of 2020 as well as the first three quarters of 2021, a departure from the trend in 2019

Net exports grew in real terms in Q3 and Q4 2021 by -38.27% and 1.35% respectively. On an annual basis, net exports grew by -55.77% in 2021 compared to -13.17% recorded in 2020.

“National Disposable Income grew by -1.48% in the third quarter of 2021 and 2.84% in the fourth quarter 2021, but recorded growth of 0.32% and -1.28% in Q3 and Q4 of 2020 on a year-on-year basis in real terms, giving a slower growth rate of -2.52% for annual figure in 2021 compared to a positive growth rate in end 2020 (1.07%).

Compensation of Employees, during the third and fourth quarters of 2021 grew by 14.54%, and 11.79% respectively in real terms on year-on-year basis. For 2021, growth rate stood at 13.68% compared to 0.96% in 2020.

“The observed trend in 2020 indicates that real household consumption expenditure declined in Q1 and Q2 accounting for negative growth rates informed by the COVID 19 pandemic. However, positive growth rates were recorded in Q3 and Q4 of 2020 as well as the four quarters of 2021.’’

Household consumption expenditure consists of expenditure, including imputed expenditure, incurred by resident households on individual consumption goods and services.

It said that Government Consumption Expenditure recorded growth rates of -39.51 per cent and -16.76 per cent in Q3 and Q4 of 2021 respectively, year-on-year.

The Bureau said the annual growth rate according to the report stood at -34.03 per cent in 2021, compared to 61.58 per cent in 2020.

The report said Net Exports recorded positive growth rates in the first two quarters of 2020 and shifted to negative growth rates in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Banking & Finance 0
Nigerian Police to have General Insurance Company soon

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The National Insurance Commission, Naicom,  is already processing the approval of the Nigeria Police Insurance Company (NPIC) to be added to the league of insurance companies in the country.

Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, said the General insurance business with capital requirement of N10billion, will further provide succour for police officers and their families in a bid to improve their wellbeing.

He made to this while declaring open, a 3-day workshop organised for Police Insurance Desk Officers drawn from all states commands and formation in Abuja on Tuesday.

“I recently approved the establishment and incorporation of the Nigeria Police Insurance Company (NPIC). Nigeria Police institution is the largest agency with the highest pool of insurable public servants in the country.

“It is therefore expedient that we leverage on this distinct reality towards ensuring that we mange our insurance policies and maximise the benefits drivable therein with less bureaucracy and in overriding welfare interest of our personnel who are constantly being exposed to occupational hazards.

“I am confident that when the operating licence is finally granted, the Insurance Section and policies of the Force will be further strengthened and bottlenecks associated with the management and processing of requisite dividends and other claims will be addressed on a sustainable bases,” posited.

He however called on the Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas, to support the strategic vision of the Force leadership by fast-tracking the incorporation process towards immediate take-off of the company.

The IGP also assured all members of the force that the current efforts in place towards repositioning the Force Insurance Section, promises a better days ahead in terms of timely resolution of claims and benefits accruing to next-of-kin of injured or deceased police officers as well as other welfare schemes to serving members of the force.

Patoma Admin by — May 12, 2022 in Insurance 0