All Posts in "Day: May 18, 2022"

NRC to resume Abuja-Kaduna train May 23

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMoT), has directed that the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) should resume on May 23.

The Deputy Director, Public Relations of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Yakub Mahmood, made this known in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday

The Nigerian Railway Corporation on March 29 suspended train operations along the Abuja-Kaduna route indefinitely
Mahmood said that the corporation wished to inform its valued customers that additional security measures were being put in place at both the train stations and the track to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.

He said that such measures were not only for the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) but also for all the passenger train services, especially on the standard gauge railway lines.

“Consequently, the passengers are hereby enjoined to cooperate with the NRC in order to enjoy improved service delivery, safety and comfort.

“This is by patiently complying with additional measures that will surely be introduced for the safety of our passengers, such as requesting for passengers National Identification Numbers (NIN).
“The NIN is part of our internal security check; in addition, presentation of the following must be strictly complied with before boarding the train:

“A valid photo Identification Card (ID), reachable telephone number of Next of Kin (NOK) or close relative and an Online and offline purchase of tickets must contain the passenger’s individual profile or identification data,” he said.

Mahmood said that concerted effort to secure the safe release of the abducted passengers being held hostage by the terrorists was continuing out of the public domain for strategic security reasons.

He said that the government wished to assure the relatives of the abducted citizens still in captivity that the safe rescue of the passengers was a top priority.
The NRC official said that they should not misconstrue the resumption of train services as abandonment or nonchalant attitude of the government towards their plight.

Patoma Admin by — May 18, 2022 in Transportation 0
NASS, MDAs urge to protect FDI through economic zones – NEZA

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The National Assembly, Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government have called upon to protect the Foreign Direct Investments attracted to the country through the Special Economic Zones scheme.

The Nigeria Economic Zones Association (NEZA), an umbrella body of Free Trade Zones operators and enterprises in zones made the call in Abuja on Monday.

NEZA Executive-Secretary, Chief Toyin Elegbede while reacting to the needless and incessant invitation of private zones owners and their enterprises by committees of the National Assembly for questioning.

“With all intent and purpose, this association is worried on frequent infractions committed by the National Assembly committees aimed at undermining the laws that established both the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the Oil & Gas Free Zone (OGFZA) without recourse to their limitations as enshrined in both Acts”

“While recognising the oversight functions of our lawmakers, we kindly urge them against breaching existing laws capable of eroding gains already recorded in attracting FDIs into the country through these zones,’’ the Executive-Secretary said.

Elegbede further explained that the leadership of the national assembly and its relevant committees should abide by the tenets and the legal framework that guided the free trade zones concept, adding that while NEPZA and OGFZA were accountable to the National Assembly, zones operators and enterprises in the zones were only accountable to the two regulators.

“As much as no entity is above the law, the practice and the law are that companies operating in the special economic zones exist under special arrangement with their activities regulated by the regulator. It is not the intention of the law for lawmakers to bypass the regulator to summon companies in the zones”.

“Such action will amount to a violation of the terms under which the foreign investors entered and invested several billions of US dollars in the Nigerian economy”.

“The practice, according to the law and according to international best practice, is for the lawmakers to interface with the regulators to address any issue within the zones”, Elegbede stated.

While acknowledging the powers of the national assembly to investigate and expose corruption, the Executive Secretary stated that its members regularly file annual audited reports with NEPZA and OGFZA, affirming that queries on such reports were always promptly handled.

According to him, “There is a difference between foreign investment within the economic zones and the ones outside of the zones, noting that investors within the zones operated under a special law that conferred certain privileges while the host country enjoy benefits of employment creation, wealth creation, industrialisation, backward integration, among others.

The Executive-Secretary, however said that a free zone was not a place to press for revenue generation, adding that the country stood the chance of reaping quantum benefits at long term if properly supported.

“Our members are law abiding entities operating within the laws and regulations of the country. The benefits these entities have contributed and are still contributing to the national economy remain unquantifiable”.

“We know, President Muhammadu Buhari is elated with the ongoing developments at Dangote Refinery, Lekki Deep Sea Port, Eko Atlantic, Alaro City, and the entire Lekki Free Zone Quadrants in Lagos, as he has at several fora described them as national assets. These are the tangible gains derivable from the zones concept.

“The association, therefore, calls for the protection of investors and their investments by not using the country’s regular laws to interfere with their operations, so that we can encourage new ones to invest in the country,’’ he said.

Elegbede further said, ‘We want to particularly appeal to the relevant committees of the national assembly to engage the regulators if they have issues with operations within the zones which would be in accordance with existing laws.’’

Patoma Admin by — May 18, 2022 in Industry, Trade & Investment 0
Allianz AGCS appoints Mike Martin, Group Head of Property

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), Allianz’s subsidiary specializing in large exposures, has made two new appointments.

Effective 16 May 2022, Mike Martin has been appointed Global Head of Property. He succeeds Maria Grace who left the group at the end of 2021. Martin will be based in Atlanta, USA, and will report to Shanil Williams, Chief Underwriting Officer at AGCS.

Martin holds a degree in mechanical engineering and technology from Texas Tech University. After stints at Velocity Risk Underwriters, Liberty Mutual, XL and Industrial Risk Insurers, he joined American International Group (AIG) in 2018 as Chief Underwriting Officer.

Srdjan Todorovic, meanwhile, has been promoted to Head of Global Political Violence & Hostile Environment Solutions. A graduate of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, he joined AGCS in 2015, where in seven years he held two senior positions. Todorovic will be based in London

 

Patoma Admin by — May 18, 2022 in Insurance 0
CISWAMZ chairman, Pius Agboola, reels out the benefits of Supervisory College

THE WELCOME ADDRESS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COLLEGE OF INSURANCE SUPERVISORS OF THE WEST AFRICAN MONETARY ZONE (CISWAMZ), MR AGBOOLA PIUS, AT THE 2ND MEETING OF THE COLLEGE BEING HOSTED BY NIGERIA AT REIZ INTERNATIONAL HOTEL CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, FCT, ABUJA PROTOCOL INTRODUCTION

 

It is my pleasure to welcome all to the 2nd meeting of the College of Insurance Supervisors of the West African Monetary Zone (CISWAMZ). Recall that the 1st meeting of the College took place virtually in February, 2022.

The coming together of the Member States of the College would afford us the opportunity to know one another, interact together and harmonise our thoughts of the present and future scope of operation and activities of the College.APPRECIATIONThe desire to establish the College of Insurance Supervisors of the West African Monetary Zone dated back many years ago

.There was no progress made until the present Commissioner for Insurance, Nigeria and the Chairman of the West African Insurance Supervisors Association (WAISA), Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas, took over the mantle of the WAISA’s Leadership. There is no doubt, the current Chairman of WAISA, Mr. Olorudare Sunday Thomas is a goal getter and great achiever. He is highly diligently, pro-active and with him, nothing is impossible. Therefore, on behalf of my Colleagues,

I wish to appreciate you sir for this noble achievement.I also wish to appreciate other Commissioners of WAISA, whom without their support, the noble achievement of establishing the College would not have been achieved. The role played by the Secretariat of WAMI in harmonizing the idea and perfecting the set-up of the College cannot be over emphasised. I therefore express my appreciation to the DG of WAMI, MR Olorunsola Olowofeso and the entire Officers of WAMI for their support and co-operation.

The College’s contact officer at WAMI, in person of Dr Augustine Njunwa, has been very supportive, we say thank you so much.INSURANCE BUSINESS IS NOT DONE IN ISOLATION Insurance business evolved through the desire of entrepreneur to curtail the negative effects of the risk materializing. Hence, that is why Insurance is regarded as a risk transfer mechanism. A business that exist to ensure the survival of other businesses.The entrepreneur who establishes an Insurance business or Company may choose to stay small, serving the local markets.

Alternatively, the companies may not have the options to stay small as there are so many other factors that could make each company to expand and go beyond the shores of the jurisdictions and these factors can be categorized into; push or pull factors.Push factors include;Risk diversification Declining opportunities in the home jurisdiction, and The need for consolidations, etc.Pull factors include;The need to follow their clients abroad which is common in the oil and gas sectorExpected benefits (i.e. large profit margin)Available unutilized potentials, etc

The special nature of Insurance and the fact that it is a business in the financial sector entails that it is highly regulated in the jurisdiction of operation. As the business expends beyond the jurisdiction of establishment or operation, the need for bi-regional or multi-regional co-operation and/or understanding grew. Hence, the need for this regional integration called College of Insurance Supervisors of the West African Monetary Zone. The College is also established to Complement and implement the ideas, Projects and directives of the parent body – WAISA.

The scope for Inter-regional (international co-operation is very wide. And since this is not a paper presentation, I do not need to go into this. More importantly, the mandates of the college is one of the presentations scheduled for this program to be handled by a very competent officer of National Insurance Commission of Nigeria, Mr. Jankara Usman, Assistant Director (Corporate Strategy, and Special Duty)CISWAMZ PROGRAM FOR THE 2ND MEETING I have gone through the program scheduled for the College 2nd Meeting, and I can confirm that it is very rich in contents. The starting point of any Group is a better understanding of their mandate which is the first presentation of this Meeting.

The various templates we planned to develop – template for presenting countries report, template for implementation of regulatory standard and presentation of Governors’ Convergence Council directives and template for Financial Stability Report are Permanent documents that require joint discussion, agreement and understanding.The last paper for this Meeting which is scheduled for the 3rd day is the sharing of Nigeria’s experience on Risk Based Approach of Onsite Examination. I am very sure that the member states will have some take – away from the presentation.

The hosting of the Regional RBS by NAICOM and Toronto Centre, Canada in February,2022 has enriched our understanding of the Risk Based Supervision and / or Risk Based Capital. Nigeria would be glad to share the RBS Framework for Insurers and Reinsurers in Nigeria with member states. I wish to assure you that NAICOM, Nigeria is ready and available to assist any member state in developing their RBS frame work, RBS manual and for knowledge sharing.YOU ARE SPECIAL

I want to sincerely welcome all the delegates and other participants to this 2nd meeting of the college.So many activities have been programmed for this 2nd meeting of the college as stated in the previous paragraph which would be of great benefits to us all and therefore let us make the best use of it. However, it is good to inform you that Abuja is a cool and beautiful city, thus you should make time to relax and move round for the maximum use of your time and money.

I wish to welcome and recognise every other participant in this program. For you to be here today, I want to say you are very special.To everyone, I say Welcome, Ekabo, Nnoo, Sanu-desua, Bienvenue, De nada etc. If I have not mentioned your language, please greet yourself in your local dialect –

Patoma Admin by — May 18, 2022 in Insurance 0