All Posts in "Day: June 28, 2022"

ECOWAS Parliament suspends recruitment pending audit report 

By Favour Nnabugwu
The First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Idris Wase, has announced the temporary suspension of all recruitment, conversion and promotion exercise in the Parliament pending the outcome of Bureau of Investigation report.
Hon. Wase, made the announcement  while presiding over the closing of its 2022 First Ordinary Session  in Abuja ruled in favor of the motion for suspension of all exercises.
The motion to suspend the recruitment and promotion in the ECOWAS Parliament was moved by Hon. Awajim Abiante and seconded by Sen. Biodun Olujimi, aboth Nigerian lawmakers at the ECOWAS Parliament and upported by Hon. Yousoufa Bida and concurrently agreed by the house.
“I want to believe that all of us that are sited here are holding these positions based on trust and we are not going to betray that trust, your confidence.
“When I mentioned that we are going to go into that report of course, the other citizens out there are also our citizens and we will not like them to suffer unjustly because of one little problem or the other.
“So the first thing I will beg is that you allow the Bureau to consider, look into the report of the audit and any other matter that has been raised regarding the recruitment exercise.
“And this we will have to do it with all sense of diligence and integrity to ensure that the right thing is done within the shortest period of time.
“I will believe that of your very own exalted office that you are here and on behalf of you that the motion is in order but that you allow the Bureau to look into it.
“So that we do not unnecessarily delay the process and then report back to the plenary at the next sitting”, Wase said.
Earlier, Abiante while moving the motion said that “I as Awaji-InobekAbiante a lawmaker from Nigeria.
“Wish to move that all processes, actions, activities, aimed and geared toward the recruitment, promotion, conversion, interview and any other related matter be suspended.
“Until all issues that have been raised, all petitions that have been brought forth, all protests, all misgivings are comprehensively resolved and the Parliament is so briefed.
“I am bringing this up because I have further information that letters have already been served in this regards and if Parliament does not intervene, we might be chasing shadows at the end of the day.
“It might be that these processes have been concluded and they will just report to us. that is my position and I so move,” Abiante moved.
Olujimi who seconded the motion gave more insight on the situation in an interview with journalists at the end of the session also said that the suspension of the process is in the interest of community citizens.
“We found out that there was an audit report that should have allowed people who have been within the administrative cadre to move up so that there will be spaces down the row.
“We found that it had not been adopted and nothing was done about it and people were jittering, there was no doubt that everyone was jittering.
“You could cause despondency and a decline in the workforce if you do not allow people to grow properly within the system.
“So we thought that now that another recruitment was being undertaken, we felt that there was a need to look at that audit reports, situate it properly, move the people that should be moved before anything else could continue.
“And the leadership was gracious enough to agree that the Bureau will sit and look into it so that everybody will be in their rightful positions.
“It is a community, these are citizens and there is a need to make everybody comfortable in whatever they are doing”, Olujimi said.
“An issue was raised that there is an audit report. Can we have the audit report so that while waiting to have it, let everything be suspended so that we can look at it.
“It is not personal, it has to be a position of the Parliament. We have made a conclusion and we are coming back to it, meaning it is a very serious issue and we have to be very careful.
“When you listen to colleagues, you can see that people are speaking in terms of referral from the population.
“I want us to be very careful, let the plenary suspend the procedure even if it is by mail, let us have the audit report so that we can look at it.
Patoma Admin by — June 28, 2022 in Foreign 0
Naicom cancels Registration licenses of Niger Insurance, Standard Alliance Insurance.

By Favour Nnabugwu
The National Insurance Commission, Naicom, has taken the bold step to finally cancel the licences of registrations of Niger Insurance and Standard Alliance Insurance after effort to resuscitate the companies failed
The Commission in a statement released by the Head, Corporate Communications and Market Development, Mr Rasaaq Salami said that  “This is to notify all insurance stakeholders and members of the public that the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM has CANCELLED the certificates of registration of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, RIC – 091 and Niger Insurance Plc,  RIC – 029 with effect from the 21st day of June, 2022”
Consequently, the Commission has appointed Sanya, Ogunkuade Esq as the Receiver/Liquidator for Niger Insurance Plc and, Kehinde Aina Esq of Aina Blankson LP as the Receiver/Liquidator for Standard Alliance Insurance Plc
All stakeholders are advised to forward their enquiries to the respective Receiver/Liquidator for each company for their necessary action.
The Commission assures all stakeholders of the safety and  protection of their interests.
Patoma Admin by — June 28, 2022 in Insurance 0
AIO tasked on business models, investment to meet ESG

 

Caption:

L- The outgoing President of the African Insurance Organisation, AIO, Mr Tope Smart and wife, Mrs Tonia Smart

 

 

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

 

Africa insurers and reinsurers have been tasked to change to their business models and increase their investments for them to meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.

Kenya’s cabinet minister for Treasury Ukur Yatani told the 1,500-plus delegates attending the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference in Nairobi that new business models and more investments hold the key to meeting their ESG goals.

In an address delivered by his assistant, Mr Yatani said the AIO conference’s theme of ‘Insurance and Climate Change: Harnessing the opportunities for growth in Africa’ speaks to what the continent is experiencing currently.

“Insurance industry has a critical role to play in helping companies and nations to manage, measure and reduce the impact of climate change,” said Mr Yatani.

“They therefore cannot continue with their business as usual in the face of increasing frequency and scale of risks linked to climate change. We must adjust our business models to better respond to ESG issues.”

He called for collaborations with other players including governments if they are to “play their rightful roles” in championing and promoting environmental sustainability issues.

In 2012, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative developed a framework for the insurance industry on the principles for sustainable insurance.

The framework was to, among other things, help insurers embed ESG issues in their business models and raise transparency and accountability of underwriters on ESG issues.

But lean budgets and challenges on their traditional insurance products have been a barrier to increasing focus on ESG.

“I want to encourage insurers and insurers operating in Africa to increase their retention capacity through increased investments on the continent. The increased investments will encourage and ensure that we meet the ESG goals,” said Mr Yatani.

Climate change conversations are being given preference especially as floods, drought, wildfires and locusts disrupt livelihoods in Africa, presenting challenges that insurers can transform into opportunities.

Insurers and reinsurers have been challenged to use the Nairobi conference to take stock of the progress that has been realised in embedding ESG in their businesses.

“As the assembly continues to discuss ESG issues, I urge them to critically examine the achievements and the progress that has been made towards the fulfilment of those goals,” said Mr Yatani.

He said while Africa’s insurance sector has prioritised access and inclusivity, many countries have been slow on developing regulations and rolling out products for the excluded and the marginalised groups.

The outgoing President of  African Insurance Organisation (AIO), Mr. Tope Smart, has frowned at the low insurance penetration rate in African.

He made his position known yesterday at the ongoing 48th Conference and Annual General Assembly of the AIO in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to him, “African insurance industry remains one of the least penetrated in the world, with an average of about 2%, which is low compared to the global average of around 7 percent”

“Our industry’s growth keeps getting slowed down by our inability to build substantial capital reserves due to poor saving culture and “Premium flight”, while “there is still heavy reliance on foreign expertise,” he said.
He added that “Our industry is still plagued by poor public image and lack of trust”, saying “these and many more are the challenges we face today, and we need to address them if we intend to secure a better future for our industry.”

“As AIO clocks 60 this year, he informed that the Golden Jubilee of the organisation will be marked by a symposium, where the operators intend to discuss some of these challenges facing the insurance industry in the continent.

In view of the fact that the African Development Bank posited that Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts under all climate scenarios above 1.5 degrees Celsius.

He expressed worries that “despite having contributed the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa faces exponential collateral damage, posing systemic risks to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture and livelihoods, threatening to undo its modest development gains and slip into higher levels of extreme poverty”.

African Insurance Organisation (AIO) said it signed a revised Headquarters Agreement with the Cameroonian Government in Yaoundé recently, which now grants the AIO all the merits of an international organisation with accompanying advantages.

As the continent’s risk managers, he called on the insurance sector to provide risk management solutions, in the form of risk mitigation and transfer, building resilience and enabling the continent transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Patoma Admin by — June 28, 2022 in Insurance 0