Micro insurance has been identified as a major plank to upscale the
insurance industry business by creating more opportunities for operators
and to cover the length and breadth of the country.
The industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM),
also sees the huge potentials offered by this class of insurance.
Experts believe this will help drive growth and put Nigeria ahead of
South Africa.
Since the presentation of the Market Development Restructuring
Initiative (MDRI) report in 2009, which identified micro insurance as a
new market to be explored, the NAICOM has made remarkable progress in
the area of introducing it into Nigeria’s big market which has huge
opportunities.
The German Development Corporation and NAICOM embarked on a
diagnostic study of micro insurance in Nigeria in 2012. The study sought
evidence-based report on the position of micro insurance in Nigeria and
further identified the capacity of the low-income people in Nigeria to
use financial products and make the report a public resource in itself.
To capture this focused group, discussions were held for the demand
side in nine states and five regions of Nigeria with 207 family units
made up of over 2,000 family members. 54 public and private sector
organisations were also met in the two states on the supplier and
enabler side during the six months of the study.
The nine demand side states were made up of two urban communities,
three semi-urban and four rural communities. All the communities
identified their major risk exposure as sickness, accident, flood,
drought, fire, political violence, religious violence, unforgiving
quarrels and death. Some other risks were water borne diseases,
hazardous jobs, snake bite and falling from tree top. They also had
social expenses like weddings, funerals, extended family members, and
absence of medical facilities to diagnose and to treat.
Experts maintain that a national micro insurance goal and strategy
statement together with a national business plan and regulatory
framework should have to be put in place by the regulator to kick-start
this new phase of insurance and sustain it.
Speaking on the subject recently, a consultant to the NAICOM and the
managing director of Riskguard Africa Nigeria Limited, Chief Yemi
Sholadoye, disclosed that the insurance industry’s minimum capital
requirement (MCR) has been increased by 6,250 per cent over a period of
40 years. Sholadoye shares the belief that Nigeria has the potential to
surpass South Africa or any other country in micro insurance record, if
not in penetration at least in absolute figure, within five years.
Out of the 1,079,000 micro insurance insured in Nigeria in 2012, 70
per cent had credit life policy; 7.5 per cent personal accident; 2.5
perc ent property insurance; 10 per cent savings life; and 10 per cent
health insurance. In essence, only 20 per cent of the people were
voluntary insured. Usually, those under compulsory insurance always do
not know that they have bought insurance.
But he said that for micro insurance to be relevant to the low income
people in Nigeria, it must be made simple. There must be staple bundled
products, ankle risks embedded into many other trusted and every day
use products like telephone, banking, fertiliser, mass transit and so
on. The products have to be developed in local languages of Nigeria, at
least in four languages – pidgin English, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo.
The contract or application form which is the basis of an insurance
contract, must be a simple, maximum of one page document extracting
simple pieces of information about the applicant. The agreement (policy)
document is the evidence of an insurance contract. It must also be a
simple, maximum of one page document, and possibly in the local
language. It must not contain long list of exclusions, clauses,
technical and legal jargons or be separated into headings like operative
clause, recital clause and so on.
Claims administration must not be cumbersome. Claims notification may
be made on phone and there may be no completion of forms. With the
experience in the microfinance, business, fraud is not commonly
perpetrated by the low income people, except by or with the connivance
of the loan officer. There is no long process of claim investigation and
adjustment or excess and deductibles.
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Naira Weakens As Liquidity Keeps Interbank Market Stable
Despite the auctions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and
the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Nigerian interbank market
remained stable yesterday amidst excess liquidity even as increased
demand for the greenback weakened the naira to N162.65 to the dollar.
Traders said although they had expected the naira to close stronger on expected dollar sales by oil companies and the CBN’s Retail Dutch Auction on Wednesday, increased demand weakened the naira against the dollar.
The naira which closed on Tuesday at N162.57 to the dollar, lost value yesterday despite dollar sales by four oil companies as well as the CBN.
Currency analysts at Ecobank, Olakunle Ezun, told LEADERSHIP, “We actually thought that the naira will close stronger around N162.00 with the sales from the oil companies but the demand was high causing it to close weaker than Tuesday’s value.”
The CBN had on Monday offered $400 billion at the RDAS but eventually sold $355.44 billion at N155.73 to the dollar. Last week, it sold $635.84 billion at the two RDAS on Monday and Wednesday.
Traders said although they had expected the naira to close stronger on expected dollar sales by oil companies and the CBN’s Retail Dutch Auction on Wednesday, increased demand weakened the naira against the dollar.
The naira which closed on Tuesday at N162.57 to the dollar, lost value yesterday despite dollar sales by four oil companies as well as the CBN.
Currency analysts at Ecobank, Olakunle Ezun, told LEADERSHIP, “We actually thought that the naira will close stronger around N162.00 with the sales from the oil companies but the demand was high causing it to close weaker than Tuesday’s value.”
The CBN had on Monday offered $400 billion at the RDAS but eventually sold $355.44 billion at N155.73 to the dollar. Last week, it sold $635.84 billion at the two RDAS on Monday and Wednesday.
Boko Haram Threatens US Security- Congress
Chairman of the Congress Sub-Committee on Africa, Global
Health, Global Human Rights and International Organisations, Hon
Christopher Smith, has said that the activities of Boko Haram threaten
the United States’ security and that of the American citizens globally.
He added that the Nigeria-based terrorists also threaten the economic interest of his country.
This is just as the Nigerian ambassador to the US, Prof Adebowale Adefuye, who was at the Congress to listen to the testimonies especially from Ambassador Robin Sanders which was generally positive and sympathetic to Nigeria, revealed that the Boko Haram activities would soon come to an end.
Speaking yesterday during a testimony on Boko Haram at the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC, Rep Smith noted that the threat of the group’s activities was the reason why the United States designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO).
“Surely, Boko Haram/Ansaru meets the criteria for an organisation to be declared an FTO,” he said.
Rep Smith said further that it was imperative that the US provided the training and support for Nigerians to develop their own capacity to help Nigeria end the Boko Haram threat, stressing that there was also need to ensure that America’s investigative capacity under the Foreign Terrorist Organisation designation was sufficient to identify those providing material and other assistance to Boko Haram. “Without this element, our sanctions on Boko Haram and its leaders will not be effective,” he noted.
After the hearing which included Ambassador Robin Sanders, Mr Anselm John-Miller, Mr Emmanuel Ogebe, and Dr Peter Pham, Ambassador Adefuye held informal meetings with US Senators and Congressmen where he informed them of steps that the federal government has been taking to deal with security and other challenges facing Nigeria.
During the meeting with the US parliamentarians which Adefuye described as the continuation of diplomatic efforts that the Nigerian Embassy is making to correct the misguided perception of a large section of the American population on the situation in Nigeria, the envoy said that he and his staff had been holding series of meetings with key stakeholders in America, briefing them about the development in Nigeria and assuring them that the situation is not as bad as some media organisations made it to appear.
Adefuye also told the United States legislators that the destruction caused by Boko Haram was bad enough to cause concern but quickly added that it was limited to only three out of the thirty-six states of the country. He added that constructive activities had been going on in Nigeria.
“The embassy usually highlights the success of the World Economic Forum and the very successful Investment Forum held for the governors of the Northern States on May 10, 2014, and this is part of the continous efforts of the government to address areas affected by Boko Haram. The Mission makes the point that Boko Haram was a product of acts of commission or omission of post independent governments that preceded President Goodluck Jonathan. The Transformation Agenda of the president is trying to correct the defects in the structure and economy of the country”
The Ambassador pressed further that the embassy makes strenuous efforts to dismiss the notion of government delayed response to the Chibok kidnapping, stressing that government did and is still doing what a responsive government should do and promptly dop. He added that while the Bring Back Our Girls still continued, the engagement with the cross section of the American society had yielded some dividends as American society has now begun to understand that the image of Nigeria as presented by the international media has emphasized too much of the negatives and that Nigeria is a country that deserves the support and cooperation of objective people.
He added that the Nigeria-based terrorists also threaten the economic interest of his country.
This is just as the Nigerian ambassador to the US, Prof Adebowale Adefuye, who was at the Congress to listen to the testimonies especially from Ambassador Robin Sanders which was generally positive and sympathetic to Nigeria, revealed that the Boko Haram activities would soon come to an end.
Speaking yesterday during a testimony on Boko Haram at the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC, Rep Smith noted that the threat of the group’s activities was the reason why the United States designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO).
“Surely, Boko Haram/Ansaru meets the criteria for an organisation to be declared an FTO,” he said.
Rep Smith said further that it was imperative that the US provided the training and support for Nigerians to develop their own capacity to help Nigeria end the Boko Haram threat, stressing that there was also need to ensure that America’s investigative capacity under the Foreign Terrorist Organisation designation was sufficient to identify those providing material and other assistance to Boko Haram. “Without this element, our sanctions on Boko Haram and its leaders will not be effective,” he noted.
After the hearing which included Ambassador Robin Sanders, Mr Anselm John-Miller, Mr Emmanuel Ogebe, and Dr Peter Pham, Ambassador Adefuye held informal meetings with US Senators and Congressmen where he informed them of steps that the federal government has been taking to deal with security and other challenges facing Nigeria.
During the meeting with the US parliamentarians which Adefuye described as the continuation of diplomatic efforts that the Nigerian Embassy is making to correct the misguided perception of a large section of the American population on the situation in Nigeria, the envoy said that he and his staff had been holding series of meetings with key stakeholders in America, briefing them about the development in Nigeria and assuring them that the situation is not as bad as some media organisations made it to appear.
Adefuye also told the United States legislators that the destruction caused by Boko Haram was bad enough to cause concern but quickly added that it was limited to only three out of the thirty-six states of the country. He added that constructive activities had been going on in Nigeria.
“The embassy usually highlights the success of the World Economic Forum and the very successful Investment Forum held for the governors of the Northern States on May 10, 2014, and this is part of the continous efforts of the government to address areas affected by Boko Haram. The Mission makes the point that Boko Haram was a product of acts of commission or omission of post independent governments that preceded President Goodluck Jonathan. The Transformation Agenda of the president is trying to correct the defects in the structure and economy of the country”
The Ambassador pressed further that the embassy makes strenuous efforts to dismiss the notion of government delayed response to the Chibok kidnapping, stressing that government did and is still doing what a responsive government should do and promptly dop. He added that while the Bring Back Our Girls still continued, the engagement with the cross section of the American society had yielded some dividends as American society has now begun to understand that the image of Nigeria as presented by the international media has emphasized too much of the negatives and that Nigeria is a country that deserves the support and cooperation of objective people.
Former Nigerian leader doubtful over kidnapped girls' return
Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria's former
president Olusegun Obasanjo has voiced fears that not all of the
Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram would return.
"It's
inconceivable to get all of them back," he said in an interview with the
Premium Times online news site published Thursday.
"If you get all of them back, I will consider it a near-miracle," he was quoted as saying.
Boko
Haram militants abducted 276 girls from their school in the remote town
of Chibok, in northeastern Borno state, on April 14.
Nearly
two months on, there is little sign of the girls being freed or
rescued, despite Nigeria's military saying that they knew where the
teenagers were being held and an international rescue effort.
Obasanjo,
who last month held exploratory talks to open channels of communication
with the Islamists through intermediaries, echoed widely held doubts
that all of the girls were still together.
Analysts
suspect that the 219 girls still missing are likely to have been split
into smaller groups and possibly taken outside Nigeria.
The
mass abduction triggered global condemnation and criticism about
Nigeria's government and military initial response, which was described
as slow and lacklustre.
In a
recent televised interview, Obasanjo -- president from 1999 to 2007
after the country returned to civilian rule -- had slammed the Nigerian
authorities' lethargy in rescuing the girls.
US
drones and surveillance aircraft have been involved in the hunt but
with Nigeria fearful that an armed response would put the girls' lives
in danger, talk has turned to negotiations.
Boko
Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has indicated that he may be prepared to
release the girls in exchange for militant fighters held in the
country's jails.
Nigeria's
government initially rejected the proposal out of hand but there are
indications that it may be prepared to open dialogue.
Pope says to ask God's advice on retirement
Barcelona (AFP) - Pope Francis
said in an interview Friday he will ask God's advice when the time comes
to consider retiring like his 87-year-old predecessor Benedict XVI.
Benedict last
year became the first pope to resign since the Middle Ages, retiring
from public life to live in a former monastery inside the Vatican City
walls.
"Since we live longer,
we get to an age at which we can no longer carry on with things," the
77-year-old Francis said in a wide-ranging interview with the Vatican
correspondent of Barcelona-based daily La Vanguardia.
The
pontiff said Benedict made a "great gesture" when he left his position
as leader of the Church, opening the door to the possibility of emeritus
popes.
"I will do the same
as he did: ask the Lord to show me when the moment comes and tell me
what to do, and he will tell me for sure," said the spiritual leader of
the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
The pope alluded to his mortality when admitting that he took a risk when he avoided riding in the closed-in "popemobile".
"I
cannot greet the people and tell them I love them inside a sardine can,
even if it is glass," he said, describing the protection as a "wall".
"It is true something could happen to me but let's be realistic, at my age I do not have much to lose," the pope said.Following his first visit to the Middle East as pope last month, the pontiff criticised fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam and Judaism as a form of violence.
"A fundamentalist group,
even if it kills no one, even it strikes no one, is violent. The mental
structure of fundamentalism is violence in the name of God."
Asked
about religious violence in the Middle East, Francis, who made his
first visit to the region as pope last month, said it was a
"contradiction".
"Violence in
God's name does not fit with our times. It is something old. With
historical perspective, we have to say that we Christians, at times,
have practiced it," he was quoted as saying.
"Today it is unimaginable."
- 'It's madness' -
Anti-Semitism, the pope said, seemed to be linked more to the right-wing than to the left, though he could not explain why.
"And it still continues. We even have people who deny the Holocaust, which is madness."
Pope Francis said he was worried about drives for independence in lands such as Scotland and Catalonia.
The
Argentine pontiff said separatism was understandable in cases such as
former colonies and the former Yugoslavia, but said these models did not
apply in all cases.
"Any division worries me," he said.
He
cited cases such as Scotland, the northeastern Spanish region of
Catalonia and the northern Italian region of Padania, saying these did
not have the same history of "forced unity".
"There
are obviously peoples with cultures so diverse that they cannot be
stuck together even with glue. In the case of Yugoslavia that is very
clear but I wonder where it is so clear in other cases of peoples who
until now have been together," he was quoted as saying.
Pope
Francis reserved harsh criticism for the global economic system, saying
it leaves millions of young unemployed, puts money ahead of people and
survives on the profits of war.
"It's madness," the pope said.
"We
discard a whole generation to maintain an economic system that no
longer endures, a system that to survive has to make war, as the big
empires have always done," Francis said.
US condemns attack on Russian embassy in Kiev
Washington (AFP) - The United
States condemned an attack on Russia's embassy in Kiev on Saturday and
called on Ukraine to provide adequate security for the diplomatic
mission.
The US reaction came
after a crowd, inflamed by the downing of a Ukrainian military
transport plane, tore down the embassy's flag and overturned vehicles as
a dozen police looked on.
"The
United States condemns the attack on the Russian Embassy in Kiev, and
calls on Ukrainian authorities to meet their Vienna convention
obligations to provide adequate security," State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said.
US Secretary
of State John Kerry, meanwhile, called Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy
Yatsenyuk and expressed condolences for the 49 troops killed Saturday
when pro-Russian rebels shot down the Il-76 transport plane near the
airport that serves the city of Lugansk, a senior State Department
official said.
The official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kerry underscored to Yatsenyuk
"the commitment of the United States and G7 partners to raise the costs
for Russia if it does not end the flow of weapons across the border and
break with separatists."
Kerry
also called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, voicing the United
States' "strong concern" about the transport of heavy weapons and
militants across the Russian border into eastern Ukraine, and the
downing of the transport plane.
"He
pressed Foreign Minister Lavrov to make clear Russia's commitment to
de-escalation and peace by ending the flow of weapons and support to
separatists, and actively working with Ukraine for a ceasefire, amnesty,
and political dialogue," the official said.
Friday, 13 June 2014
The United States Government has imposed Conditions of Entry (COE) on
vessels originating or coming from Nigeria, as it requires that these
vessels meet certain security measures prior to entering U.S. ports.
In a statement issued by the United States Consulate General, Public Affairs Section in Lagos yesterday, 22 port facilities in Nigeria are however, exempted from the COE, as they have been found to have adequate security measures in place.
The U.S. Coast Guard has worked with Nigeria to identify and address port security deficiencies observed during assessments of numerous facilities during the past six years.
Based on these assessments, it has concluded that Nigerian ports have not fully implemented the provisions if the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code, the primary international security standard, and do not have effective anti-terrorism measures in place.
Twenty-two (22) Nigerian port facilities have demonstrated effective anti-terrorism measures and will not be subject to additional security precautions.
The COE are not trade sanctions and do not ban Nigerian ships from entering U.S. ports.
It does require ships however, to take certain additional security-related measures while at non-exempt Nigerian port facilities, which will be verified by U.S. Coast Guard port security personnel prior to entering U.S. ports.
The COE has no impact on shipping traffic entering Nigerian waters and/or berthing at its ports; it deals only with shipping traffic departing Nigerian ports that is destined for the United States.
The clear delineation of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as the designated authority for implementation of the ISPS code was a positive step, and the United States is aware of NIMASA’s efforts to improve its oversight of Nigeria’s port facilities.
The U.S. Coast Guard will continue to collaborate with Nigeria with the goal of achieving full ISPS Code compliance and the removal of the COE, the statement concluded.
In a statement issued by the United States Consulate General, Public Affairs Section in Lagos yesterday, 22 port facilities in Nigeria are however, exempted from the COE, as they have been found to have adequate security measures in place.
The U.S. Coast Guard has worked with Nigeria to identify and address port security deficiencies observed during assessments of numerous facilities during the past six years.
Based on these assessments, it has concluded that Nigerian ports have not fully implemented the provisions if the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code, the primary international security standard, and do not have effective anti-terrorism measures in place.
Twenty-two (22) Nigerian port facilities have demonstrated effective anti-terrorism measures and will not be subject to additional security precautions.
The COE are not trade sanctions and do not ban Nigerian ships from entering U.S. ports.
It does require ships however, to take certain additional security-related measures while at non-exempt Nigerian port facilities, which will be verified by U.S. Coast Guard port security personnel prior to entering U.S. ports.
The COE has no impact on shipping traffic entering Nigerian waters and/or berthing at its ports; it deals only with shipping traffic departing Nigerian ports that is destined for the United States.
The clear delineation of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as the designated authority for implementation of the ISPS code was a positive step, and the United States is aware of NIMASA’s efforts to improve its oversight of Nigeria’s port facilities.
The U.S. Coast Guard will continue to collaborate with Nigeria with the goal of achieving full ISPS Code compliance and the removal of the COE, the statement concluded.
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