ECOWAS Parliament kicks against violence in Sierra Leone

By Favour Nnabugwu
ECOWAS Parliament has kicked against the violence the resulted to loss of lives and properties in Sierra Leone
The Speaker of the Parliament,  Sidie Mohamed Tunis at the delocalized meeting of the joint committee in Banjul Gambia, themed:“Community Texts relating to Peace, Security, Democracy and Good Governance: Challenges in their Implementation and the Oversight Role of ECOWAS Parliament” 
Represented by the 4the Deputy speaker, Adja Satu Camara Pinto call on all sides to adhere to the rule of law, which is the best path to channel and address grievances of every kind.
Tunis said, ”Many democracies are having difficulties globally, in this present day, these failures are often attributed to the lack of trust and accountability.
” We are seeing regime change and reforms in many parts of the world.  In Africa the fragility of our democracies is caused by electoral abuse, ethnic divisions, mismanagement of natural resources, poverty, and economic insecurity.
“”There is a need for political will and action to counter these problems, and these are better achieved through our institutions. It is said that integration is about people. Indeed, it is high time our region derives the benefits””He said .
Also speaking, Gambian Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Mamadou Tanagra told member state to collectively act swiftly to address the issues of insecurity and promote in the subregion
‘As nations sharing the same destiny, we have a moral obligation and a collective responsibility to act swiftly to address all issues hampering the institutional advancement, the consolidation of peace, security and the empowerment of women who as the driving forces of the Region”
He continued further, “Today , it is immensely gratifying to observe the overwhelming response of all partners and people of goodwill here present to affirm a faith in a common purpose, a common conviction and a common devotion in the consolidation of Peace, Security and Good Governance and other community achievements. ‘
Naicom to sift the industry of non-performing companies

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The Governing Board of National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has vowed to revisit the insurance industry recapitalisation, even as it is seeking the support of the Federal Government to effect a major restructuring of the sector and eliminate non-performing companies.

NAICOM’s Board Chairman, Dr. Abubakar Sani, said this yesterday when he led members of the Governing Board on a courtesy visit to Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, in Abuja.

Dr. Sani intimated the Minister of the Board’s plan to carry out specific exercises aimed at sanitizing the insurance industry in the country, stressing that enforcement of the code of ethics for companies in the sector is underway.

“We shall enforce the professional code of ethics among the insurance entities, and strengthen their corporate governance which the Board believes will sanitize the market.

”The NAICOM Board will in due course revisit the matter of recapitalization of the insurance industry and will clean up its act with the enforcement of code of ethics of insurance profession and practice, and code of good corporate governance in companies. The board is working to sanitize the market and will be taking out companies that are not measuring up to expectations,” he said.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, charged the Board and the Management of NAICOM to develop and implement policies which will strengthen the insurance sector and reposition the industry to enhance its contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the economy at large.

She, however, urged members to be mindful of existing guidelines regulations and circulars that guide the operation and conduct of the Governing Boards of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions and strictly adhered to them.

“The initiative to pay this visit barely two months after your inauguration demonstrates your sense of purpose and desire to work closely with the Ministry towards realizing the mandates of NAICOM.

“At your inauguration, I called your attention to some issues of interest and concern in the Insurance Industry which require your urgent attention, This visit, therefore, affords me yet another opportunity to once more congratulate you on your inauguration and inform you that Government has a very high expectation of this Board. You must build on the successes of the immediate past Board.

“In this regard, I wish to restate some of those issues and remind you of your role as Chairman and members of the Governing Board of NAICOM.

The Board which also comprises the Management should develop and implement policies which will strengthen the insurance sector and reposition the industry to enhance its contribution to the nation’s GDP and to the economy at large.

“It is of utmost importance for the New Board and the Management of the National Insurance Commission to work harmoniously together to actualize the mandate of the Commission.

“The Board has to develop strategies to systematically build the capacity of members through Workshops, Seminars, Study Tours, etc. to enable effective contribution towards the growth of the Industry, especially as some members were not drawn from the Insurance Sector.

“Members to note that there are guidelines regulations and Circulars that guide the operation and conduct of Governing Boards of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions and should be strictly adhered to – Frequency of meetings; entitlements of Board members, Travel guidelines and related matters.

“Deepening Insurance Penetration in the Country: There would be a need to achieve more insurance penetration in the country.

In this regard, there is a need to evolve new insurance products and policies.

“The Board and the Management must ensure that the condition of service and welfare of the staff creates a conducive atmosphere to promote staff productivity and engender industrial peace.

“Finally, members should commit to develop and implement policies that would promote the reputation of the Industry through prompt payment of claims. Your target should be to take the Industry to greater and enviable heights during your tenure.

“In conclusion, I wish to restate the Ministry’s commitment to continue to assist and support the Commission towards realizing its mandate for the overall benefits of the nation,” she submitted.

ARC plans to increase cost-efficiency, capacity

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The African Risk Capacity (ARC), a provider of parametric disaster insurance products to countries and now other entities in Africa, plans to increase its capacity and cost-efficiency for country members remains key.

Getting African governments on-side to purchase disaster insurance in parametric form has been key and donors have, as you’d expect, played an important role in premium payments at times.

But ARC’s real mission is to scale and create efficiencies so that countries can afford to participate and see the benefit of doing so as well.

Speaking at a meeting of ARC member states, Class A &C members and funding donor partners, ARC Limited CEO Lesley Ndlovu explained the value proposition, “In the history of ARC, we have paid about US$125 million in claims and half of that was in last year’s Pool 8. We are extremely happy when we pay claims because these go towards meeting the needs of Africa’s most vulnerable people. These pay-outs also demonstrate the value of the insurance mechanism.”

Ndlovu also noted the importance of access to broader global risk transfer markets, something ARC has leveraged since it was first launched, having had a reinsurance program placed with major reinsurers and at times some ILS fund participation.

“The fact that about half of the claims paid were paid by the insurance market means that ARC is able to take weather-related risks on the African continent and seed them into global markets such that when there’s a disaster on the African continent, part of the payment for the cost of that disaster also comes from the global reinsurance markets, again demonstrating the value of having a mechanism like ARC,” Ndlovu said.

Ndlovu also explained that ARC continues to pilot new risk transfer products, including parametric flood insurance and a pandemic risk transfer product.

In addition, ARC Limited still aims to broaden its risk pool further than pure sovereign parametric insurance as well.

This is important, as it could help ARC grow the parametric risk pool far more quickly, increasing the reinsurance market efficiencies that are possible and the diversification of the risk pool as well.

The introduction of micro and meso insurance products is already underway, with a number of parametric pilot projects in progress, Ndlovu explained.

But the sovereign risk transfer will remain core to ARC’s mission, it seems, with Ndlovu explaining the need to get more African nations onboard and buying protection from the risk transfer provider.

“Currently, we have 13 countries that participate out of 55 on the African continent. We need more to participate, and are also working very hard to bring partners into the ecosystem so we are able to overcome the two main barriers we face in the growth of insurance – the affordability of premiums and increasing capacity building so there is greater understanding of the role of insurance in disaster risk management,” Ndlovu said.

Capacity building should not be a problem, as African disaster risks are an attractive diversifier for global reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) providers, the only issue remains price and this is where scale could be critical for ARC.

By increasing its scale and expanding its risk pool, ARC will have more risk to cede to global reinsurance and ILS markets, driving the economies of scale that can result in reinsurance market efficiencies.

Concluding his speech at the event Ndlovu said, “We all know that Africa is a continent that is most exposed to climate-change-related risks and with ARC we have in our hands an instrument that can play a vital role in creating the solution to protect the most vulnerable African citizens against the worst impacts of extreme weather. It really is up to us to make this initiative a success.

ECOWAS Parliamentarians to meet in The Gambia to tackle insecurity, others from today

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

A Joint Committee of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is slated to hold in Banjul, the capital city of The Gambia from Tuesday, 16 to Saturday, 20 August, 2022.

With the theme: Community texts relating to peace, security, democracy and good governance: challenges in their implementation and the oversight role of ECOWAS Parliament.

Three of the fourteen Standing Committees of the Parliament, comprising the following: Committees on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) / Legal affairs and human rights / Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment, constitute the Joint Committee that will be meeting.

In a statement availed patomabusinessonline com by the Communication Department of the ECOWAS Parliament stated, “The main objective of the meeting is to create an opportunity for the Members of the Joint Committee to acquaint themselves with and take ownership of the ECOWAS texts on peace and security, democracy and good governance as well as identify the best mechanism for oversight for their effective implementation within Member States.”

It will be recalled that ECOWAS Parliament is composed of 115 seats. Each Member State is allotted a guaranteed minimum of five seats. The remaining forty seats are distributed in proportion to the population of each country. Consequently, in total, Nigeria has 35 seats, followed by Ghana, with eight seats and Côte d’Ivoire, with seven seats. Others are Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal. which are allotted six seats each, whereas Benin, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo have five seats each.

“The Joint Committee will meet to reflect on the role of parliamentary oversight in the effective implementation of the ECOWAS texts on Peace, Security, Democracy and Good Governance.”

“Since its creation on 28 May, 1975, ECOWAS has adopted a significant number of Texts aimed at preventing, managing and/or settling conflicts within the Community, as well as maintaining and promoting peace and regional security.

“However, attempts to effectively implement these Community Texts have thrown up, several apparent challenges.

“Consequently, the impact of these texts on improving the security and good governance climate and environment within the ECOWAS region, remains insufficiently evident,” the Statement read.