As new technology and processes moves forward, the Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) has charged financial service providers, especially banks, to embrace best risk management practices in their operations. According to the association, the appeal was premised on the emerging risks confronting the nation’s financial system, especially as new technologies evolve. RIMAN also commended the management of Wema Bank for upholding best risk management practices in its operations. The commendation was made during a courtesy call by the RIMAN Executive Council led by its President, Dr. Ezekiel Oseni, on the Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank, Mr. Ademola Adebise,…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
Determined to address challenges posed by the outbreak of the coronavirus, underwriting firms have begun to adopt the use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), to reach out to more Nigerians to increase market penetration. With the federal and state governments encouraging physical and social distance to limit human contacts to curb the spread of the virus, the underwriters chose to advance digital awareness, leveraging technology to give insurance a facelift. Under the arrangement, a prospective policyholder will have an easy, quick and convenient channel to buy new products and policies, renew existing policies and make payments for Value Added…
The Africa Insurance Organisation(AIO) has joined forces with the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) to build a strong market structure to benefit from African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The President, AIO, Tope Smart, on a courtesy visit to the association, said AfCFTA remains the market booster for the benefit of insurance consumers in the African market. He stressed that there is a need for the Nigerian insurance market to upscale its digitisation programme to fast-track penetration. According to him, the meeting with the Nigerian market is the beginning of AIO’s engagement with Key Markets in Africa to increase Insurance penetration…
Access Bank Group has declared its commitment to the growth of contemporary art in Nigeria through the sponsorship of Art X Lagos International Fair for the sixth time as a Gold Sponsor. Through this collaboration with Art X, Access Bank has brought to life its passion for helping Africans tell the African story through creative and innovative ways in line with the bank’s philosophy to offer ‘More than Banking’. The four-day event took place at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The Bank reaffirmed its commitment through its impactful presence at the 2021 edition of the Fair during, which…
In the midst of the growing rate of default in the micro-credit ecosystem, Configure, a bank-level core lending platform that enables users to build, launch, and manage any type of loan product end-to-end, has been unveiled. The product promises to offer the lender a single interface for assessing the creditworthiness and profile of a borrower at a speed and cost that is much higher than what the conventional credit bureaux offers. Speaking on the product, Founder and CEO of Evolve Credit, Akan Nelson, stated that the vision was to make access to credit and financial products more inclusive, accessible and…
About 35 African countries have made a commitment towards net-zero emission in the backdrop of the 2021 United Nations conference in Glasgow, the global plan may cost the continent $6.7 trillion in fossil fuel resources. Raising about $2.8 trillion energy transition fund needed to transit Africa to cleaner fuels to attain the goal may also remain a mirage, a new report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers has said. To achieve the 1.5°C global warming target under the Paris Agreement, studies suggest that a third of current oil reserves, half the current natural gas reserves and nearly 90 per cent of current coal reserves…
Acknowledging Nigeria’s market size despite continued downtime in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, the AfCFTA secretariat has established that achieving the trade objectives is incomplete without Nigeria implementing the protocols. Almost one year after the implementation of the AfCFTA commenced, Nigeria is yet to unveil guidelines and implementation strategy for the trade deal, raising concerns for the organised private sector. The Secretary General, AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, while speaking at the Africa Day of the Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) themed, ‘Boosting intra-African trade’, noted that without Nigeria, the implementation of the AfCFTA would be…
With the Federal Government optimistic about December 13 Fifth Generation (5G) network spectrum auction in Nigeria, the reserve price (RP) bid of $194.7 million (N75 billion) has been ranked among the costliest in the world but topped prices from nations like India and South Africa. Though the environments vary, RP in the USA, China, Germany, Brazil appear to be the highest in the world. For instance, RP in the USA is around $81billion; UK, £1.1 billion; Germany, €1.5 billion and Brazil, $8.5 billion. On the other hand, RP in India was pegged at INR4.92 billion ($66.2 million), South Africa between…
SPAR Market, Nigeria’s leading supermarket and department store company, has officially disclosed its annual Black Friday Sales from November 19th to 28th, 2021. A spokesperson from the organization has affirmed that they are expecting this to be one of their biggest Black Friday events since they brought the event to Nigeria, with MASSIVE offers up to 70% in Electronics, Home Appliances, Mobile Phones, Computers, Wines & Spirits, Groceries, Clothing, Watches, Furniture, and more. The company has also organized several engaging games with customers to win prizes at their stores, ensuring that 2021 Black Friday at SPAR is going to be…
This was made known at a capacity development training for 1000 Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises, (MSMEs) in the Lagos East Senatorial district. The one-day MSME Clinic/Workshop, which was organised in conjunction with The Fate Foundation, had notable people in the MSMEs ecosystem in attendance, which include Managing Director, BoI, Olukayode Pitan; Executive Chairman, Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), Ayodele Subair; Executive Secretary and Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Mrs. Tejumola Abisoye, among others. Specifically, Abiru who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on industries stressed the importance of embracing the new normal occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that…
The Federal Government has said its aim is to make sure the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector accounts for 70 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025. The Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dikko Radda, disclosed this yesterday, at a stakeholders’ operationalisation of Public-Private Dialogue on the implementation of the new National Policy on MSMEs (2021-2025) in Abuja. The event was part of the coordination mechanism provided by the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) facility on effective implementation of the policy. Radda recalled that one of the core challenges the agency…
Confirming records low production and inability of the country to meet its crude oil quota, the latest monthly report of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has shown that Nigeria’s rig count slumped to nine from 11. Despite the Federal Government’s readiness to pump more oil and increase its acreage, operational setbacks and sabotage from key pipelines continue to undermine optimal production. Compared to 11 rigs recorded in September this year, the October count is at par with 2020 records and lower than 16 rigs recorded in 2019. Though S&P Global Platts survey showed that Nigeria dropped to 1.37…
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has unveiled new measures to check security threats in the Nigerian maritime domain and deter persons who may seek illegal means of entry into the country as stowaways. Under the new procedures, all ship captains are to submit the Security-Related Pre-Arrival Information (SRPA) forms to the agency not later than 48 hours before the ship’s arrival at any Nigerian port. Ship captains are also required to exchange the Declaration of Security (DoS), with the Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO), of their next port of call not later than 72 hours before the…
Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has disclosed plans to reduce its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, exports in order to increase supply to the domestic market and crash the soaring price. Managing Director, NLNG, Philip Mshelbila, who disclosed this at the yearly conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) in Lagos, said NLNG is now increasing supply to the domestic market to 450,000 mt per annum, from 250,000mt per year earlier supplied. He said: “As part of the measures to support the Federal Government’s efforts to deepen domestic gas supply and economic growth,…
FITC has established its commitment towards deepening transformative knowledge solutions to financial services firms and other sectors of the economy, as part of ways to ensure sustainability and value creation. In commemoration of its 40 years anniversary, the firm noted that it has continued to embrace innovation and tweak its service offerings in a way to meet the changing and emerging demands of the industry and economy. In a chat with journalists, the Managing Director/CEO, FITC, Chizor Malize stated that the 40th anniversary milestone is a celebration of the organization’s rich heritage and continued commitment to its mandate to develop and…
The Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dikko Radda has cried out that poor coordination by government agencies was impeding the growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. Radda established this at the Train-The-Trainers capacity workshop for the implementation of the new National Policy on MSMEs (2021-2025) in Abuja. The training was part of the coordination mechanism provided by the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) facility on effective implementation of the policy. The DG maintained that the growth and development of Nigeria rests on a functional and efficient MSME sub-sector. He said:…
The Borno and Yobe States’ chapters of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have decried the non-payment of N6 billion bridging claims allegedly owed by the Federal Government in the nine months. The Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) statutorily pays members of IPMAN N24/litre to transport fuel from South to Northern parts of the country. Lamenting the unpaid claims in Maiduguri, recently, the IPMAN Secretary for Borno state, Abbas Yakubu, said the development had forced them to close shops, adding that 380 of his members could not sustain the distribution and sale of petroleum products to motorists and households.…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has emphasized the need to facilitate the issuance of green and sustainable instruments in the Nigerian capital market to assist in financing solar energy and other environmentally friendly infrastructure. Director-General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda stated this during the Environmental, Social and Governance Roundtable organised by the CFA Society Nigeria at the weekend. Yuguda, while speaking on the theme: ‘Unlocking value through environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing’, said beyond the Federal Government and corporate issuers, sub-nationals can also take advantage of the growing appetite to issue bonds and finance relevant environment-friendly projects, especially…
Despite a favourable geology with mineral resources spread across the country, stakeholders in the mining sector have advocated a favourable fiscal environment that will help exploration and investment in the sector for improved contribution to the economy. They noted that worsening insecurity across mineral rich communities in the Northern region and other mining communities continues to undermine production and investment. According to the stakeholders, despite the glorious past and abundance of mineral deposits, the potential of the mining sector has remained largely underexploited, as the sector’s contribution to GDP only increased from 0.3 per cent in 2018 to 0.6 per…
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has emphasized the need for issuers and investors to key into funds mobilisation focused towards promoting green financing and sustainability drive in Nigeria. Director-General of DMO, Patience Oniha, while speaking at FMDQ Green Exchange Launch and partnership deal with the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) in Lagos on Monday, stated that the current trend suggests that there will be an increase in the demand for funds to support such projects and finance infrastructure. She said: “As there is more awareness and more pressure on the government to look at those projects, it means we have to…