Global insurance brokers market expected to hit $105.33bn in 2023

By Favour Nnabugwu
The global insurance brokers market is expected to grow from $98.82 billion in 2022 to $105.33 billion in 2023 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.6 percent.
The insurance brokers market is expected to grow to $130.35 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 5.5 percent
The countries covered in the insurance brokers market are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.
The insurance brokers market consists of sales of insurance products by entities that act as intermediaries (i.e., agents or brokers) in selling annuities and insurance policies.
This market excludes the direct selling of insurance products by insurance companies. The value of the market is based on the fees or commissions paid to brokers by the insured, both commercial and personal.
According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) of India, the Life Insurance Corporation of India sold 2.17 crore insurance policies in the fiscal year 2021-2022 which was an 3.54% increase from previous year’s 2.10 crore policies. Therefore, the increasing demand for insurance policies drives the growth of the insurance brokerage market.
The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included
An insurance broker is a person who is authorized to sell insurance and frequently collaborates with numerous insurance providers to provide customers with a range of products.
North America was the largest region in the insurance brokers market in 2022. Western Europe was the second largest market in the insurance brokers market.
The regions covered in the insurance brokers market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa.
The main types of insurance brokers are life insurance, general insurance, health insurance, others. Life insurance in the insurance brokers market refers to the contract between the insurer and the insurance policyholder that promises to pay a total sum of money upon the death of an insured person. The services are offered in various modes, such as offline, and online mode. These are used by corporate, and individuals.
The increasing demand for insurance policies is expected to fuel the growth of the insurance brokers market over the coming years. The demand for insurance policies has risen due to the availability of security services and customized financial services to clients.
The impact of COVID-19 is predicted to limit the growth of the insurance brokers market over the forecast period. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of millions of people, affected supply chains & business sectors, and disrupted economies worldwide.
The coronavirus outbreak has several impacts on the insurance sector, from employee and business continuity concerns to customer care considerations to the financial outlook. For instance, the Indian insurance industry’s productivity has been hit by 30% in March 2020.
The pandemic has pushed the insurance industry to heavily depend on digitalization for selling new policies, setting up claims, and making other transactions. Therefore, the impact of COVID-19 restraints the growth of the insurance brokers market.
The integration of AI in the insurance sector is a key trend gaining popularity in the insurance brokers market. The combined power of AI and human creativity enables the Intelligent Broker, an automation programme for the insurance industry. Brokers will be able to resolve complicated obstacles, produce innovative products and services, and join or build new markets.
In addition to this, AI in the insurance industry will improve customer service and prevent customers from fraud. In 2021, 60% of the insurance companies are targeting AI to be used in decision making and to reduce manual input, which has doubled in the last two years.
Pension fund investment in FG rose by 4.92℅

By Favour Nnabugwu
The pension fund investment in Federal Government securities rose by 4.92 percent from  N9.19trillion as of September 30, 2022 to  N9.64trillion as at December 2022 last year.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom), stated in its Fourth Quarter 2022 report that the increase in the value of investments in FGN Securities was majorly due to additional investments in this asset class during the quarter.
 The report showed that the total value of pension fund assets as at December 31, 2022 was N14.99 trillion, which comprised of N10.72 trillion RSA ‘Active’ Funds I, II III and V; N1.19 trillion RSA Retiree Fund IV; N1.57trillion Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs); and N1.48 trillion Approved Existing Schemes.
Fund VI Active and Retiree Fund amounted to N36.20 billion.
A breakdown of the fund further showed that pension fund assets were mainly invested in Federal Government Securities (FGN), which accounted for 64.33 percent of total assets.
The report read: “The composition of investments in FGN Securities includes FGN Bonds at 95.60 percent; Treasury Bills at 2.06 percent; and Agency Bonds, Sukuk and Green Bonds accounting for 2.34 percent.
Nigeria, 9 other countries rank top 10 in air pollution

By Favour Nnabugwu
Nigeria is among the top 10 African countries with air pollution in the world with 36 percent of pollution ranking 18th in the 5th Annual World Air Quality Report.
First on the list of the othe 9 countried is Chad with 89.7 percent air pollution, followed by Burkina Faso with 63.0 positioned as number 6th; Egypt is 9th with 46.5 percent; Sudan is 12th with 44.6 percent; Rwanda is 44.0 percent, 13th; Uganda is 39.6 percent, 17th; Ethiopia is 31.3 percent, 23rd;  Ghana 30.2 percent, 27th and Gabon 25.0 percent, 32nd
The biggest threat to environmental health in the world still involves air pollution. Over six million deaths annually and 93 billion days of illness are attributed to poor air quality globally. The total economic cost exceeds $8 trillion, or 6.1% of the annual global gross domestic product. Numerous health conditions, such as asthma, lung diseases, heart disease, and early mortality, are brought on by and made worse by exposure to air pollution.
Populations that are already at risk are most severely affected by air pollution. More than 90% of deaths attributed to pollution take place in low- and middle-income nations. There is a higher risk of developing or worsening health conditions in children under the age of 18, pregnant women, and older adults who are exposed to air pollution.
As a result, it is important to know the air health of the region you’re residing in, which is why IQAir, an organization mandated to fight the effects of polluted air. IQAir also operates the world’s largest free real-time air quality information platform.
 The air quality scientists at IQAir examined data from over 30,000 air quality monitoring stations spread across 7,323 locations in 131 countries, territories, and regions for this year’s report.
According to the data collated, Africa continues to be the continent with the lowest representation, despite an increase from 13 countries represented in 2021 to 19 countries included in this year’s report.
 Out of 54 countries, only 19 have enough information on air quality. The data analyzed for this report comes exclusively from empirically measured PM2.5 data collected from ground-level air monitoring stations. The PM2.5 measurement data in this report is aggregated from both regulatory air quality monitoring instrumentation and low-cost air quality sensors.
These devices are operated by government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and individual citizens who contribute to the monitoring of their local air quality.
PM2.5 concentration describes the amount of fine particulate aerosol particles up to 2.5 microns in diameter and is used as the standard air quality indicator for the World Air Quality Report. Measured in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3 ), PM2.5 is one of six major air pollutants commonly used in the classification of air quality.
Tanzanian, AfDB sign for Kakono Hydropower project

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Tanzania and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a loan agreement for a total of $161.47 million (or about Sh374.9 billion) to be used in financing the Kakono Hydropower Project in Kagera.

The 87.8 MW project, whose total cost exceeds Sh700 billion, is also financed by the European Union (EU) and the French Development Agency or Agence française de développement (AFD).

The government signed an agreement with the AFD on its portion of the deal, totaling 110 million euros, just one week prior to yesterday’s new development, according to Finance and Planning Minister Mwigulu Nchemba, who spoke during the signing ceremony (about Sh272.6 billion).

The 35 million euro (Sh86.7 billion) grant from the EU, which will be managed by AFD, is the final amount of the total project cost that has not yet been agreed upon.
Following this important milestone, I request the grant arrangement between AFD and EU to be expedited in order to have the full package of financing ready for the project,” Dr. Nchemba, stated.

He emphasized that increasing on-grid energy production from the least expensive renewable sources is the Kakono Hydropower Project’s overall development goal in order to address the electricity deficits in north-western Tanzania.

In the northwest corner of Tanzania, in the Lake Zone, where expensive diesel generators are frequently turned on to either supplement the grid supply or improve the quality of supply to avoid protracted blackouts and brownouts, the development of the project will replace the use of fossil fuels.

Dr. Nchemba predicts that the project will be finished in five years. It will entail building an 87.8 MW hydropower plant as well as a primary school, a health center, and a 28 km long asphalted access road that is part of the Project. He continued by saying that this will ultimately result in an improvement in the local communities standard of living.

He continued by saying that the project also entails the provision of evacuation facilities and the execution of the plan for environmental and social management and monitoring. The Third Five Year Development Plan (FYDP III) of the country and the broad plan of the Sixth Phase Government are both supported by the Kakono Hydropower Project.

Dr. Nchemba also added that the targeted objective is to create a competitive and industrial economy for human development by strengthening the business and investment-enabling environment, productive infrastructure, reliable access to energy, and systems for education and training