All Posts in "Day: July 21, 2022"

NIPC sets new target for FDI routes to Nigeria

By Favour Nnabugwu
The re-appointed Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC, Saratu Umar has set a target for Foreign Direct Investment routes for the country.
Umar stated at the inauguration in Abuja today,  “Yesterday is gone. Today is a new day. The past is a place of learning, not a place of living. “We must stay focused on today and tomorrow, and how to make tomorrow an even greater day.”
She pledged to reposition the NIPC to attract new routes of foreign investments into Nigerian to shore up the dwindling revenue of the government and the much needed jobs.
The NIPC executive said that the NIPC will support the federal government’s various general and sectoral policies, and executive pronouncements and take to a logical conclusion the National Investment Promotion Masterplan which is aimed at having clear actions that key into the government’s various sectoral masterplans and policies.
She said “We will orchestrate and execute targeted investment drives along country-specific, investor-specific, sector-specific, industry-specific, regional-specific, and investment-type specific strategies to facilitate FDI (and LDI – Local Direct Investment) that fit into Nigeria’s development and investment needs, in an inclusive, coordinated, tangible, measurable and effective manner.”
“We will logically conclude the National Investment Promotion Coordination Framework, to provide a clear strategy for a seamless collaboration and coordination of the Investment eco-system, as well as usher in a robust and effective stakeholder communication and engagement. This will result in effective partnerships between NIPC and critical stakeholders including the international community and development partners.
“We will listen to, and work with, our stakeholders. Indeed, within the next two months, we will hold the second series of our stakeholder engagement which we started in 2014, with various key stakeholder sessions to discuss their challenges, interact, and obtain feedback towards resolving them and creating synergies that facilitate impact.”
“Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) markets over the last decade have become more competitive, and the investment promotion thrusts of countries that are attracting the largest global market share of FDI inflows are driven by effective, efficient, and performance-driven Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). With over 170 IPAs worldwide competing to channel FDI to their different countries, it is imperative that the NIPC is positioned to ensure Nigeria wins in this global market.
This is especially important with the onset of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement which is now in force. In 2021, a UN report noted that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Africa grew by 147 percent; this has accentuated the race by African economies to showcase their investment climate reforms and business-friendly policies, facilitated by very competitive IPAs that are vying for a greater share of inbound investment.
Critical shifts in the AfCTA and ECOWAS Investment Protocols, as well as the on-going development of the national investment promotion policy, the national trade policy and the national industrial development policy, require that the central and strategic role of the NIPC in the coordination of all investment promotion activities in the Nigerian Economy, should be established, enshrined and repositioned as envisaged in its enabling Law, without prejudice.
“Therefore, as it was in 2014, so it is in 2022: I am still fully committed to excellence and professionalism. If you would recall, my vision when I assumed duty in 2014 was: “to transform NIPC into a gold standard of excellence on the African Continent and a world-class Investment Promotion Agency, that is comparable to any in the world”.
Patoma Admin by — July 21, 2022 in Industry, Trade & Investment 0
Global insured losses from catastrophes above average at $39bn in H1 2022: Aon

By admin

 

 

Insured losses from natural disaster events totalled $39 billion in the first half of 2022, which is roughly 18% above the 21st Century average, according to Aon.

In contrast to the above average volume of catastrophe losses experienced in the six-month period, global economic losses from natural disasters are preliminary down 24% on the 21st Century average of $121 billion, at $92 billion.

This is all according to Aon’s First Half of 2022 Global Catastrophe Recap, which, examines a period marked by large-scale disasters on almost every continent, which ultimately resulted in above-average losses for the re/insurance sector.

“The first half also saw brand new complexities added to the event response process (including higher replacement costs and reinsurance placements) that were influenced by challenging outside societal and financial factors – notably the war in Ukraine and the highest inflation seen in decades,” says Aon.

In terms of insured losses, persistent severe convective storm (SCS) activity, notably in the U.S. and Europe, was a key driver in H1 2022, according to Aon.

All in all, the broker has recorded at least nine separate billion-dollar insured events in the opening six months of 2022, all but one of which were weather-related. Further, at least 20 events were recorded with at least $500 million in insured losses, which Aon says ties H1 2022 with 2011 as the second highest H1 total this century, behind only the 24 seen in H1 2020.

Looking at economic losses, which at $92 billion shows that the protection gap was around 57% – meaning that more than half of all economic losses suffered from nat cat events were not covered by insurance in H1 2022 – Aon notes 21 individual billion-dollar economic loss events. Again, all but one of these were weather-related, with the exception being the March 16th earthquake near the coast of Japan.

The nine billion-dollar events experienced in the U.S. in the period makes it the most active region, followed by seven in the EMEA, three in the APAC region, and two in the Americas.

Commenting on the H1 2022 loss figures, Aon warns: “It is anticipated that there will be robust loss development in most regions, as the cost(s) associated with seasonal monsoon flooding, drought, and severe convective storm events are fully realized.”

In its extensive report, the insurance and reinsurance broker explains that “the fingerprints of climate change continued to become more evident in individual event behavior and longer-term temperature and precipitation trends in 1H 2022.”

“Warmer than average temperatures were cited across a broad swath of the globe which aided in more unusual weather patterns that were already set in motion by the primary influence of La Niña conditions which have been ongoing for nearly three consecutive years,” adds the firm.

Looking ahead to the second-half of the year, Aon emphasises that Q3 is often the costliest quarter of the year, and with forecasters predicting an above-average level of activity during the Atlantic hurricane season, Q4 has the potential to be costly for the industry as well.

“Elevated wildfire activity and the continual threat of severe convective storms will also require close monitoring. With inflationary pressure adding greater costs to supply and labor combining with more impactful disasters, it is anticipated that another challenging round of re/insurance renewals will be forthcoming,” says Aon.

Patoma Admin by — July 21, 2022 in Insurance 0
NCAA suspends Dana Airlines flight operations, withdraws ATL

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) announced the suspension of Dana Airlines’ Air Transport Licence (ATL) and Air Operator Certificate (AOC) indefinitely, with effect from midnight of Wednesday, 20th July, 2022.

According to the authority, the suspension was made pursuant to Section 35(2), 3(b) and (4) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3(a)(1) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs), 2015.

The suspension order, handed down by the Director General, Captain Musa Nuhu, has since been communicated to the management of Dana Airlines.

Nuhu notes that, “The decision is the outcome of a financial and economic health audit carried out on the Airline by the Authority, and the findings of an investigation conducted on the Airline’s flight operations recently, which revealed that Dana Airlines is no longer in a position to meet its financial obligations and to conduct safe flight operations.

“The NCAA acknowledges the negative effect this preemptive decision will have on the Airline’s passengers and the travelling public and seeks their understanding, as the safety of flight operations takes priority over all other considerations.”

It would be recalled that Nigeria’s oldest airline, Aero contractors also suspended its passenger flight operations indefinitely from today.

Vanguard had reported that the company, stated that the suspension of its operations was due to the impact of the challenging operating environment on its daily operations.

In a reaction to the development, Aviation Analyst, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, stated that, “Aero Contractors is the oldest airline in Nigeria and also the most successful in the non-scheduled operation services before they ventured into schedule operations, and since then they have been struggling to break through the bridges of operations couple the buy over by the Ibru family and then professionalism began to erode the company, coupled with mismanagement.

“The company have maintained a perfect safety record, they went into aircraft and maintenance had a succession in viable maintenance organization, they have a standard and well-equipped training school.

“As a company, they felt like rather than lose it all, they had to suspend a section of the business. It is a perfect decision, they have been with AMCON for sometimes and they are yet to come out of that problem. If they suspend flight operations to concentrate on other aspects of their operations which includes non-schedule operations which are profitable, aircraft maintenance agency and the aircraft training school which is doing well, I must commend them for being bold on this.”

Patoma Admin by — July 21, 2022 in Aviation 0
JAMB pegs Varsities cut off marks @ 140, Polytechnic, COEs 100

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and heads of tertiary education institutions in the country have pegged the minimum cut-off mark for admissions in the 2022/2023 academic session at 140 for universities and Polytechnic s, College of Educations at 100.

These were announced at the ongoing Policy Meeting on Admissions, presided by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, in Abuja, Thursday.

JAMB’s registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who announced the cut-off after after a thorough debates and votes by vice chancellors of universities, rectors of polytechnics and provosts of colleges of education, said the implication was that “every institution has the right to fix its own cut-off mark even up to 220 but no one would be allowed to go less than the agreed minimum marks of 100 for colleges of education, 100 for polytechnics and 140 for universities.”

The meeting also called for the review of admission criteria to give 10per cent discretional power of admission to heads of tertiary institutions.

Recall that the 2022 UTME who over 1.7 million candidates registered and sat for across the country,began on Friday, May 6,2022 ,and ended on Friday 13th May, 2022.

The JAMB boss said only 378,639 of the 1,761,338 who wrote the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations ,UTME, scored 200 and above.

While giving further statistics of the 2022 examination, Oloyede noted that 378,639 scored above 200; a total of 520,596 candidates scored 190 and above; 704,991 scored 180 and above; 934,103 scored 170 and above; 1,192, 057 scored 160 and above.

Oloyede used the opportunity to disclose names of best performed students in the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination,UTME.

Açcording to him, Master Adebayo Eyimofe,an indigene of Ekiti State came first having scored the highest mark with 362 points. He was trailed behind by Ugwu Chikelu, an indigene of Enugu State,who 359 points.

He explained that both sat for the examination in one of the Computer-Based Test,CBT centres in Abuja.

Prof. Oloyede named other eight candidates as Igbalaye Ebunoluwa 357; Emmanuel Oluwanifemi 357; Ozumba Samuel 357; Olumide-Attah Ayomide 355; Lawal Olaoluwa 355; Dokun Jubril 354; Amaku Anthony 354 and Aghulor Divine 353, respectively.

The JAMB boss at the event,said the Minister of Education,Malam Adamu Adamu,has approved that A’level results by the National Business and Technical Education Board,NABTEB, will no longer be considered for admission into higher institutions after 2022.

Hear him:“The Honorable Minister of Education has approved that the NABTEB A’level GCE will no longer be recognized as a qualification for Direct Entry,DE,from 2022. However, all those who have already obtained it prior to this date will be able to use it.”

Speaking further at the policy meeting, Oloyede highlighted some of the challenges faced by the board in the conduct of the 2022 UTME/ DE examination.

The challenges of the 2022 UTME,he explained,were examination malpractices, impersonation and substitution of real candidates by paid examination takers, fraudulent CBT owners who sabotage examination, parents encouraging examination malpractices, mass cheating by syndicates, prolonged investigation and prosecution.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu warned institutions against violating the laid-down admission guidelines.

Açcording to him,all institutions must adhere strictly to all admission regulations prescribed by the regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission,NUC, the National Commission for Colleges of Education,NCCE and the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE.

This,he said,must be “particularly with regards to approved quotas, ratios and other specifications meant for improved quality, accountability and equity.”

The minister disclosed JAMB under Prof. Ishaq Oloyede has so far remitted about N29 billion directly to the Consolidated Revenue Fund,CRF.

Açcording to him,JAMB also granted over N1 billion to the Institutions, expended more than N2billion on capital projects, reserved N6 billion for its future expansion as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility,CSR , just as it provided social services such as funding the freighting and delivery of donated critical hospital equipment to 12 teaching hospitals at a cost of $257,000 and ₦47million.

He said JAMB has continued to serve as a model for public agencies in vision, devotion, transparency and efficiency which continue to yield enormous goodwill to the government and people of Nigeria.

He said:“In this meeting, we shall be focusing on consolidating the achievements we have made on admissions policies in the area of innovations that drive transparency, accountability, equity and fairness in the admissions process”.

“Just as in the previous admissions exercises, the admissions criteria still remain as approved and circulated. All institutions must therefore adhere strictly to them and all others prescribed by the regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), particularly with regards to approved quotas, ratios and other specifications meant for improved quality, accountability and equity.”

Speaking on flexibility in the admission, Adamu stated that during the 2021 Policy Meeting, he advised tertiary institutions to adopt a more flexible posture in the admissions process provided all actions are in compliance with the guidelines.

“One size fits all is injurious, hence, the statutory stipulations that in the exercise of its functions, JAMB should not obliterate the peculiarities and unique features of each of the Institutions”, he said

On the eradication of illegal admission, the minister said: “In 2017, we introduced the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) to eradicate the primeval activities around admission procedures towards nuzzling transparencies and accountabilities on admissions. It was on this note that it was mandated that all admissions to tertiary institutions in Nigeria must be carried out on the CAPS”.

“This implies that all applications for regular and non-regular admissions to tertiary institutions must be routed through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in conformity with its enabling law. I am aware that JAMB issues specific Advisories to guide different aspects of the process. I therefore urge every Institution to comply with those advisories in the interest of the sector”.

“By the last policy meeting, I had approved that all illegitimate admissions from 2017 to 2020 be condoned provided such candidates met the minimum entry qualifications in their various courses of study. I am aware that the process led the affected institutions to declare about one million illegitimate admissions for the periods”.

He noted that as soon as the process is completed, necessary measures would be put in place to track and sanction all culpable heads of institutions irrespective of whether they are in office or not.

 

 

 

Patoma Admin by — July 21, 2022 in Education 0
Akeredolu @ 66: A Hegemon With Collaborative Praxis, says Jimoh Ibrahim

By admin
Business mogul and All Progressives Congress’ senatorial candidate for Ondo South in the forthcoming general elections, Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, CFR, has described Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, as a hegemon  with collaborative praxis.
He stated this on Thursday while congratulating the governor on his 66th birthday anniversary.
Ibrahim said what God has been using the Chairman of  Southwest Governors’ Forum for in the country, particularly in the Souh-West, on security would remain indelible in the history of the nation.
He commended Arakunrin Akeredolu for the industrialization projects which manifested in Ondo State Industrial Park at Omotosho in Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.
The popular senatorial candidate noted that the series of industries established in the park has reduced the hitherto high rate of unemployment in the state, particularly in Ondo South.
Jimoh Ibrahim explained that the efforts of the governor in attracting investors to the state paid off through world standard economic policies introduced by his administration in the state.
He said the thoughtfulness of the governor made him decide to construct flyover at Ore, which has brought an end to the ghastly accidents that usually occurred on the busy Ore/Benin highway.
According to Ibrahim, “Arakunrin is a hegemon with collaborative praxis. He ensures unity in our party, APC and members are working collectively with the governor for the success of the party in the forthcoming general elections and beyond.
“He carries everyone along and he’s a good leader who puts all his followers into consideration in all his decisions.
“We thank God for what he has been using him for in Nigeria, Ondo State and Ondo South senatorial district.
“He stands against insecurity in the country because he knows as a governor, the onus lies on him to ensure the protection of lives and property of his people irrespective of their political leaning.
“The governor is well red and enlightened. He is of the view that there’s no way any investor would put his money where security of life and property cannot be assured.
” I commend him on what he had done at the  Industrial Park Omotosho, which has reduced unemployment drastically in the state and Ondo South.
“He constructed the Ore flyover to stamp out avoidable ghastly accidents in which several lives had been lost in the past.”
Ibrahim, therefore, prayed to God to give the governor a long life and sound health to fulfill God’s desires upon him.
Patoma Admin by — July 21, 2022 in Metro 0