All Posts in "Day: October 15, 2022"

AfDB approves $2.5m grant to Mozambic

By Favour Nnabugwu
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a grant of a grant of $2.5 million to the Mozambican government to develop renewable energy resources.
The grant, from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), administered by the Bank, will be used to implement the Mozambique Renewable Energy Integration Program (MREP).
“With the support of the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, Mozambique’s capacity to integrate larger shares of variable renewables will increase its efforts to become a major regional electricity supplier,” said Dr. Daniel Schroth, Director of the African Development Bank’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Department. He added, “Given that Mozambique is one of the most highly climate-vulnerable countries in the world, the project will help build a more sustainable and resilient power generation infrastructure.”
The funding will assist the national electricity company to provide financial support for technical, economic, environmental and social feasibility studies for the development of a solar floating power plant in Chicamba reservoir. In addition, it will support funding for a feasibility study for Energy Battery Systems Storage in up to 10 sites, as well as capacity building for EDM´s personnel; and support for tender preparation.
The donation will also be used to conduct studies to increase the share of variable renewable energy production in Mozambique’s energy mix. Feasibility studies to develop floating photovoltaic solar energy will be conducted in existing EDM hydropower assets.
Increasingly affected by severe and sudden cyclones, storms, and prolonged drought periods, Mozambique is endowed with abundant energy from renewable and fossil resources. Over the last decade, the energy sector in Mozambique has made considerable progress: the country is a net exporter of electricity despite low access rates (57% in urban areas and 13% in rural areas). With 187 gigawatts, Mozambique has the most significant power generation potential in southern Africa, thanks to untapped resources in coal, hydroelectricity, gas, wind, and solar energy. Hydropower currently accounts for about 81% of installed capacity. But natural gas and renewable energy sources are set to take a growing share of Mozambique’s energy mix.
The African Development Bank is a key player in the energy sector in Mozambique. It provided more than $400 million in financing for the ongoing $20 billion Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project. The Bank supports power generation, transmission and distribution, such as the Tamine Gas Project. It is currently supporting the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric power station project, the rehabilitation of the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power station and the construction of a transmission line from the north to carry electricity to the South
Patoma Admin by — October 15, 2022 in Banking & Finance 0
Top ten Life, Non- life insurance companies contributed 60.2%, 60.8% to Gross Premium

By Favour Nnabugwu
Top ten Life and Non-life insurance companies control over 60  percent of the total market gross premium income of N369.2 billion for half quarter 2022.
The gross premium indicates a 20.1 per cent growth rate compared to the same period of the previous year and an impressive 65.0 per cent, quarter on quarter.
The top ten companies whose names were not mentioned for obvious reasons, to protect the market, contributed a large chunk of the total gross premium for the sector.
The National Insurance Commission, Naicom Statistics Bullentin released by Head of Corporate Communication & Market Development, Mr AbdulRasaaq Salami to the Media recently said the companies are doing greatly.
“Life business is controlled by the top ten (10) players in the market compared to about sixty (60.2 percent) per cent in the prior period YoY.”
“The top ten (10) underwriters in the NonLife section of the industry contributed about sixty one (60.8 percent) per cent of the gross premiums income sustaining a similar scenario in the corresponding prior period”.
This occasion demonstrates a fairly distributed market control and a less concentration risk in the market.
Naicom also looked at the least ten insurance in life and Non-life.
“However, less than one per cent was the contribution of the least ten (10) players in both Life (0.13 percent) and Non-Life (1.23 percent) segments of the market.
Though the market is yet to fully recover from covid-19 episode, among others, Naicom concluded, “Even so, following the historical pattern of the industry, the analysis of the market has not only improved in the current period but maintained a fairly balanced concentration especially in the Non-Life section of the industry”
Patoma Admin by — October 15, 2022 in Insurance 0
Security, floods top brokers discussions in Abuja

CAPTION:

L- President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr Rotimi Edu and the Chief Executive Officerr of National Insurance Commission/ Commissioner For Insurance, Mr Sunday Olorundare Thomas at the 2022 insurance brokers conference & Exhibition in Abuja Thursday

 

By Favour Nnabugwu

The security challenge and the rampaging floods in the country have been the focus of the conference of the brokers in Abuja.
Insurance brokers are also more concerned about the rise in floods which rendered many homeless and lots of property destroyed
The 2022 Insurance Brokers Conference  & Exhibition of the Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB, was parked full with eminent personalities who specialise in security of the nation put heads together on how best insurance industry could come to help ameliorate the challenges there in.
President of the NCRIB, Mr Rotimi Edu said the theme of the conference, Insurance in the Face of National Security” could not be more apt than now, considering the challenging security situation in the world and the country today.
Edu said insurance and security are not something that can be separated. “Needless to state that insurance and national  security affect each other.  There is no way risks exposure which insurance exists to succuor would not be rife in an environment challenged by insecurity”
“There  are exposures of lives and properties in a period of social commotion and general insecurity, necessitating the need for the public to have a perfect understanding of their roles towards better acceptance of insurance at a time like this”
“t I is an irony that just as we speak, the country’s exposure to activities of criminal elements such as Boko Haram and Bandits have been a continuous threat to our collective peace”
The country has not yet clam down on security challenge before floods ravage some part on the country, NCRIB President noted, “Also, from the news we have been inundated with in the last few days there had been flooding of some parts of the country, leading to destructions of properties, lives and farms and as such posing grave challenges to food security that would have ripple effects on the future of the country.”
In all of that, he said the federal government is trying hard to calm the situations, adding that more need to be done. “While  great kudos should be given to the federal government for its combative roles against all forms of insecurity in the country, more still needs to be done with the cooperation of such strategic stakeholders like our Council and the insurance industry to vitiate this malaise.
“We must all realise that sustainable progress could only be accomplished in an environment of peace and tranquility, and as a result, no shade of conversation should be spared in finding solutions to this problem”
Patoma Admin by — October 15, 2022 in Insurance 0
WAEC launches digital certificate platform

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

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The West African Examinations Council , WAEC, Nigeria has announced the launch of  digital certificate platform from October 20, 2022.

In a signed statement by the Acting Head , Public Relations, WAEC Nigeria, Moyosola Adesina, the platform, a mobile and web-based application that has powerful features, was designed specifically for candidates, individuals, institutions, and organizations to access, share, request, confirm certificates and recover forgotten WAEC candidates’ examination numbers.

Part of the statement read:” Advancing in its mission of encouraging academic and moral excellence, promoting sustainable human resource development and international cooperation, meeting the growing global demands, and ensuring prompt service delivery, WAEC Nigeria is set to unveil the much-awaited WAEC Digital Certificate Platform.

” The council is excited and thrilled to introduce this innovation at a time the global world has gone digital. This further proves that the Council maintains its vision of being a world-class examining body, adding value to the educational goals of its stakeholders, by providing timely solutions to all the bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with the academic certificates.

” The Digital Platform creates an easier, instant and safer mode of accessing certificates by stakeholders. With this digital platform, users will be able to recover burnt, lost, and damaged certificates. ” Adesina noted.

On the benefits of the innovation, the spokesman for WAEC Nigeria, explained that the digital certificate platform would among other things eliminate the chances of fraud, and the bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with the manual procedures of certificate issuance and collection.

Her words:” The benefits of this innovation are enormous, as candidates who have sat for the WASSCE in the past and present are able to access and share the original copies of their certificates with ease, the original copies of their certificates, which can be instantly confirmed from a credible and reliable source, regardless of the location.
Also, institutions, organizations, and recruitment agencies can carry out bulk/individual confirmation of certificates at once, with ease. The reliability and authenticity of this confirmation on the digital platform eliminates the chances of fraud.

The unveiling/launching of the product will be on Thursday, 20th October, 2022. The general public and all stakeholders are hereby enjoined to take advantage of this new WAEC Digital Certificate Platform, designed to eliminate the bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with the manual procedures of certificate issuance and collection.

” The WAEC Digital Certificate Platform is available online via www.waec.org. The mobile application can be downloaded on android and iOS app stores. For more information, stakeholders can visit www.waecnigeria.org and www.waecdirect.ng.

Patoma Admin by — October 15, 2022 in Education 0