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X- R A Y

ome words or phrases are often used in the work environment to buy time or escape commitment. If you are a chieftain of these words, we appeal you do away with them. 1. TRY “Well, I’ll try”, some people say. They are just giving you lip service, when they probably have no real intention of doing what you ask. Give it your all when you do something. Put passion into your work, and give it your best effort, so you can know that you did all you could to make it happen. So, if the outcome you were expecting did not come to fruition, it’s not because you didn’t do everything you could to make it happen. It just wasn’t right time for it. 2. WHATEVER: This word is a trusted favourite of people who want to dismiss you, diminish what you say or get rid of you quickly. It’s an insult and a verbal slap in the face. It’s a way to respond to a person without actually responding. When you say “Whatever” after another person has said his or her piece, you have essentially put up a well between the two of you and halted any progress in communicating.

Taboos Of The Work Place status, they will say, I’ll get back to you, and they usually never do. If people say they will get back to you, always clarify. Ask them when they will get back to you, and make sure they specify the day and time. If they don’t, then pin them down to the day and time, and hold tham to it. If they won’t give you a day and time, tell them you’ll call in a day or week.

themselves against potential failure. They will say, “If Bob finishes his part, then I can do my part. There are always alternatives, other routes, and ways to get the job done. Excuse makers usually have the energy of a slug and the spine of a jellyfish. You don’t want them in your team when you are trying to climb Mountain Everest.

5 IF: The success of any project depend largely on everyone doing his or her part. People who use “If” are usually playing the blame game and betting against themselves. They like to set conditions, rather than assuming a successful outcome. People who rely on conditional responses are fortifying

6. “Yes, but” This is another excuse. You might give your team members suggestions or solutions, and they come back to you with “Yes, but” as a response. They don’t really want answers, help or solutions. You need to call the “Yes, but” people out on their avoidance tactic by saying something like “You know, Meg, every time I offer you a suggestion you say, ‘Yes, but’ which makes me think you don’t really want to solve this problem. That’s not going to work. If you want to play the victim, go right ahead, but I’m not going to allow you to keep this up. After a response like that, you can be assured that the next words you hear will not be “Yes, but.

3. MAYBE: People will sometimes avoid making a decision and hide behind “maybe”. Sometimes during a confrontation, people wall offer the non-committal response “maybe”, just to avoid being put on the spot. If that seems to be the case, ask, “when do you think you will know?” How do you find out? Don’t let the person off the look so easily. 4. I’ll Get Back To You: When people need to buy time or avoid revealing a project’s

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7. I Guess: This is usually said in a weak, soft-spoken, shoulder-shrugging manner. It’s another attempt to shirk responsibility.

•ROLAND VALENTINE OKORO

8. We’ll See: This is to buy time, avoiding a fight or confrontation of saying no. It’s better to be decisive and honest by saying, I need more information. Please present you case or send me the data-both pro and con,-so, I can make an informed decision.

*Oshin

*Daniel

*Sanusi

UN challenges African Insurers on infrastructure development

nited Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa has charged the insurance industry to go beyond their borders in supporting broad based economic activities in trade, manufacturing, tourism and industrialisation. The commission says the industry must not restrict itself by market size and border but rather it should take a more trans_boundary approach in supporting development in the continent. Abdoulie Janneh, UN under_secretary_general and Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) made the disclosure at the 37th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) in Banjul , The Gambia. Janne who was represented by Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary (ECA) said there is great potential for the African insurance and reinsurance sector and must work among itself in partnership with National Governments, Regional Economic Communities for this development. The conference with the theme “Survival of the African Insurance Industry In the Face of the Global Financial Crises” has more than 700 delegates in attendance from the different African countries. A c c o r d i n g t o J a n n e A f r i c a ’s infrastructure needs are huge and massive, and far beyond the capacity of individual governments, public or private insurance companies, entrepreneurs or even regional economic communities to provide.

“It is therefore imperative to adopt a strategic approach of resource mobilization involving as many of all these economic operators as possible, particularly the insurance sector to address these challenges” According to him, the ability of African countries to exploit their natural resources for the benefit of their people will only begin to yield fruit when the acquire they required technical and financial resources to do so. Africa’s natural resources therefore have great potential and presents profitable opportunities for the insurance industry to begin to consider, he said. Another key area in which he pointed the industry can play critical role is in the area of housing. “Several of our countries have accumulated substantial amounts in pension funds, which can be more profitably channeled to productive activities”. The very huge deficit between the demand and supply for housing in Africa can be addressed to large extent by collaboration in the form of joint ventures between the actors in Africa ’s insurance, pension fund and housing sectors, Janne said. Dwelling on the subject matter of the conference, global financial crises, he said the turbulent events in global financial market over the past two to three years have created unprecedented challenges for the insurance industry, international and in the African region. He said this has translated into falling incomes and collapsing tax

revenues, threatening government’s capacity to respond. According to him, emerging risk factors associated with climate change and catastrophic events are posing major strategic risks for the industry and and have far reaching implications for insurers who might be faced with paying for escalating costs of rising losses. Isatou Njie_saidy, vice president of the Republic of The Gambia in her opening remark said the role of insurance in supporting economic development cannot be over emphasied, stating that in addition to providing risk transfer services to individuals and corporations, the industry facilitates trade and commerce, mobilizes savings for investment and ensures efficient allocation of capital. She said Africa was indeed hard hit by the crises in the global economy as result of the confluence of the fall in global trade, decline in foreign direct investment and massive reversal of private capital flows, decline in remittance, sharp reduction of revenues from tourism and reduced access to credit and trade financing. She however expressed confidence that the industry would be live up to its challenges to protect policy holders and ensure that businesses is conducted safely and soundly for the overall devolvement of the African countries. no major government anywhere collects funds to be managed on behalf of the private sector.

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TREND

Insurers Move To Increase Contribution To GDP

igerian insurance companies under the auspices of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) have affirmed that the contribution of the insurance industry to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at present is low and that efforts are being made to improve on this. While speaking at the International Insurance Conference organised by the association in Lagos recently, Wole Oshin, NIA’s Chairman, assured that the insurance operators are determined to ensure that the industry occupies its pride of place in the financial services sector. He said “You will no doubt agree with me that the contribution of insurance to national GDP at present is low. It is our desire to increase our contribution to the national economy and place the insurance industry in its rightful place in the financial services sector.” Oshin also confirmed that various scholars, academics, practitioners, analysts and other stakeholders have been suggesting different strategies to increase the

contribution of insurance to the national economy and increase insurance penetration and density. The conference’s theme which is “Revitalising Insurance Business towards Achieving Sustainable National Economic Growth”, according to him, “has been carefully chosen to address the issues that are at the heart of our existence as an industry”. The objectives of the conference included to evolve strategies to improve insurance premium income, as well as to deepen insurance penetration and density in Nigeria, while also reducing insurance gap in the country. Other objectives of the conference were to create awareness about insurance, to take insurance closer to the government and to reposition insurers for global competition. The association expressed hope that the conference would enable participants to find ways of revitalizing

L- Mr. Adedotun Sulaiman, Chairman, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Dr. Teslim Sanusi, NCRIB president and Mr Livingstone Magorimbo, MD during the ‘Members Evening’ hosted by the insurance company in Lagos recently.

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*Ladipo-Ajayi, Deputy Chairman, NIA insurance business towards achieving sustainable national economic growth by critically examining “the challenges of the global economic environment on the insurance industry” as well as map out “strategies for advancing the growth and development of the Nigerian insurance industry” While acknowledging that the Nigerian insurance market has huge potentials for growth, he lamented that the industry remains one of the poorly developed due to many factors, some of which the conference was structured to address. The NIA boss also used the medium to inform the Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, that the insurance operators are aware of his desire to reposition the insurance sector and make it the true catalyst for economic development and empowerment. “The Nigerian Insurers Association is fully behind you and the National insurance Commission under the able leadership of the Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, in your desire to take insurance closer to the government and the Nigerian people,” he stressed. Besides, he commended past chairmen of the association and other industry pillars, who laid the foundation for the growth of the insurance industry in the country, and whose untiring efforts, prayers and goodwill enables the industry to remain in existence up till today.

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Adhere to Market Agreement and Witness Growth - Uranta

he nation’s insurance industry has gone through a lot of transformations through a recapitalisation exercise in 2007, but still, remains elusive to watchers and some analyst as to what potential it has to contribute to the larger economy. Justus Uranta, Managing Director, Niger Insurance plc in this interview with Risk Shield sheds light on the operations of the industry. Excerpt: Insurance industry in first Quarter This first quarter to me is the most trying period because it is the time we had expected that the economic meltdown which lingered through the previous year was going to show some sign of recovery. Much as the prices of stocks in the capital market are beginning to show signs of recovery, remember that the budget was not out yet for implementation and that is a big minus, and normally it throws most companies into some level of distability because organisations rely on the budget to know what step to take. But having said that, with our own little experience here in Niger, we have been able to drive our business to about a billion naira income though not up to our expectation because expectedly we had targeted about N2 billion. But I am also hoping like any other well meaning Nigerian that, with the visit of our president to the United States and his discussion with the American president. I mean, these are positive signs that things can only but get better. That is our only hope. But as it is at the moment, we cannot see any serious sign apart from slight increases in share prices. Expectations in the second quarter Like I said earlier, if this quarter can witness approvals and implementation of provisions of the budget, naturally one would expect that things will pick up. I want to believe that improvement of the economy is factored into this budget and so as soon as it is released, funds will begin to fly around, monies will start to circulate in the economy, availability of fund will be there, access to credit will improve, buying ability of the citizenry will improve and that is where our hope lies. Analyst continuous faulting of insurance industry recapitalisation Well, I don’t know what they mean when they say the insurance industry recapitalisation did not meet its expectation. When you want to look at insurance business, you must look at the peculiarities which make it different from other sectors. What do I mean by this? In insurance, we have a lot of factors that play in the business which enable us meet our primary obligation of efficient settlement of claims and that is reinsurance, treaties and all that. So, when we say insurance companies have N5 billion, it

*Uranta means we also have backing from reinsurance, securities, both local and international. So, you don’t look at that figure strictly, because there are other things that supports our operations that people don’t see and that makes it difficult to even say whether this figure is adequate or not. But fundamentally, every business enterprise needs money to be able to do better business, to buy facilities to deliver efficient service and also do more research. However, we are yet to see how the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) would come up with the analysis that will encourage them to ask us to provide further in terms of our capital base. Making insurance industry income equivalent to capital base I will say our income at the moment justifies our capital base because one important thing most of us operators run away from is research and this requires a lot of funding. In the product market, a lot of money is spent on research and you will be surprised that after spending close to N20 million or more the product may not meet the taste of end users, so you jettison that and start afresh. You can only do that when you have a strong capital base. If an insurance company with N2 billion capital base spends about one quarter of that on research over time, then you see that their bottom line is eroded so much that it could impact on their operations. So, beyond that, you also need to establish visible branch outlets that can convince people that this company is ready and mean well. Again, you need to train and retrain your manpower. Today’s business is knowledge driven, so, you need to train and retrain your man power to be able to compete globally having seen that the world has

become a global village. As it is today, there is no difference between those of us operating in Nigeria and our counterparts operating in London if we are able to drive our knowledge somewhere close to their point. So, we need this funding to improve on our bottom_line. Universal banking guidelines and insurance industry Before now, the insurance industry has seen the Universal banking as it were, as some worth of an incursion into our core area of operation by the banks. But most of us in other not to sit down and be beaten hands down decided to break it in many forms. Like in Niger Insurance, we went into alliance with Afribank and it has been working up to the time the Central Bank of Nigeria intervened and brought in a new management to run the bank and gave them specific instructions and directives which is exclusive of all these alliances. But even at that, it’s still working to an extent. So, largely, it will be a welcome development as long as insurance companies are concerned because as soon as banks get their hands off our core operations in terms of insurance coverage, a larger chunk of such businesses will be returned to us and it will add value to what we do. And we expect that it will add to our gross premium income. Premium management and improved remittance Largely, “no premium no cover” is not a new law in Nigeria or neither is it a new regulation but the same law establishing insurance practice also gave some leeway to established brokers to the extent that they are allowed up to 30 days within which to remit premium. But I think bye and large, the market has embraced the NAICOM directive on premium remittance, though I can’t say significantly that this is the outcome yet. But I think it’s being subjected to trial and we are hoping that it would help our industry. Industry market agreement I would be happy to see my fellow operators adhere strictly to this market agreement because it is going help us; it’s going to help the market grow; it’s going to bring down the huge premium indebtedness in our books which compel us to make this heavy provision. Again, it’s also going to create a level playing field to make us compete and at the end of the day it will make the practice better and more beneficial to end users. Therefore, my emphasis here is that, please, let all operators try and adhere strictly to this market agreement because it going to cleanse our image put us on a better light before the insuring public and at the end of the day put more money in our pocket. So, let us make it work.

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TREND

New Pension Scheme Records 4.13m Contributors

he licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) managing the new contributory pension scheme in Nigeria have registered 4,132,217 employees as at the first quarter of 2010, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced. According to the commission, the contributory pension scheme established by the Pension Reform Act 2004 for employees in the country recorded 4.01 million contributors as at the end of December 2009. This means that more than 130, 000 contributors joined the scheme between the month of January and

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*Ahmad, DG PENCOM

March 2010. PenCom informed that the PFAs have registered 3.88 million contributors as at the third quarter of 2009 and 3,706,467 contributors as at the end of second quarter of 2009. The figure was 3.54 million contributors on March 31, 2009. The pension scheme established for both employees in the public and private sectors of the economy has recorded 1.96 million contributors as at March 16, 2007 and 2.12 million contributors as at April 20, 2007. The Director General, PenCom, Muhammad Ahmad had during an interview with Risk Shield disclosed that the current number of contributors still fell short

of expectation given the population of the country and the number of people engaged in active service at present. PenCom pointed out that the number of contributors is still a far cry from the estimated working population of 42 million people. This may probably be due to poor compliance from the private and informal sectors, as well as non implementation of the scheme in some states of the federation. According to the information posted on the PenComâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, the number of employees who have registered under the new scheme was 839,254 on June 19, 2006. The figure rose to 1,003,947 on June 13, 2006, before increasing to 1,206,081 on August 24, 2006, 1,300,255 on September 19, 2006, 1,702,277 on January 8, 2007 and 1,832,751 on February 20, 2007. The figure was already 1,961,814 as at March 16, 2006. The Pension Act establishes a contributory pension scheme for payment of retirement benefits of employees in the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and in the Private Sector where there are five or more employees in employment in an organisation. The Act became effective from June 25, 2004. The objectives of the scheme are to ensure that every person who worked in either the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory or Private Sector receives his retiremen benefits as and when due. It is also designed to assist improvident individuals by ensuring that they save in order to cater for their livelihood during old age, while also establishing a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for the administration and payments of retirement benefitsfor the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and the Private Sector.

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Goldlink Launches New Products

*Okunniyi

oldlink Insurance plc has introduced for new products into the market in line with its determination to meet the changing needs of the populace. The new products are Goldlink Schools Safety Policy, Goldlink Travels & Tours, Goldlink Hospitality Plus and Goldlink Annuity Plan. The company’s Managing Director, Femi Okunniyi, said since market indicators have not shown ample signs that the financial markets are on the road to a hopeful recovery in spite of cautious predictions by market observers, Goldlink has chosen to find the golden opportunities concealed in the threats of the economic crisis. He added that “while the crisis has been harsh to our industry, it has brought opportunities for the introduction of new products that would better the lives of our clients and deliver value to all stakeholders.” Okunniyi maintained that the crisis itself has been an enhancer in deepening the company’s insights and improving its perspectives and market intelligence, noting that Goldlink has been rising Goldlink Schools Safety Policy covers public liabilities arising from fire, accidents and injuries to students and other persons as well as the employees. It is intended to provide indemnity for school buses, group personal accident for students and teachers, all risks insurance cover on electronic equipment

and premise risk covering building against fire, burglary and liability to third party. Goldlink Travels & Tours Insurance covers loss or damage to baggage, clothing, personal effects, outpatient and hospitalisation, medical expenses due to sickness or injury incurred overseas. The plan is, however, exclusive to travellers to Schengen countries. Goldlink Hospitality Plus Insurance is tailored to cover to typical everyday risks associated with the hospitality industry. The cover will provide indeminity to the hotel proprietor in respect of loss or damage to guest property and other visitors while in the premises. Goldlink Annuity Plan is designed to help individuals to start saving for retirement. The product provides holders with the security of a stream of guaranteed payments to supplement their retirement fund. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Insurance, Fola

Daniel, has charged other insurance companies to develop products that would meet the yearnings and aspirations of the insuring public. Represented by NAICOM’s Director (Authorisation), Leo Akah, the NAICOM boss reiterated that the only way insurance industry can grow as expected in the country is by having products that can meet the needs of the people. In a similar vein, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Sosan, tasked the management of Goldlink and other insurance operators to create the needed awareness about any new products they are introducing into the market so that the aims of designing such products will not be defeated. She further counselled that premium required to arrange the insurance cover should be made flexible so that majority of the people can be able to afford the products. The deputy governor was represented by Kunle Ajanaku, a permanent secretary in her office.

2010 AIO

*(L-R) Mrs Roselyn Ulaeto, Mr Alphonse Okpor, and Ms Ayo Dada at the 2010 AIO Conference... recently.

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TREND

Motor Insurance: CHI Partners Banks

he management of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance plc says the insurance firm is collaborating with Zenith Bank, Intercontinental Bank, and Fidelity Bank so that majority of the insuring public can have easy access to its online third party insurance policy for motor vehicles. Consolidated Hallmark is one of the insurance companies operating in the country. According to the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s managing director, Eddie Efekoha, Consolidated Hallmark embarked on the arrangement with the banks in order to bring the insurance cover within easy reach of Nigerians by taking advantage of the branch network of the banks. He said this has also become necessary in view of the widespread counterfeiting of insurance certificates by some unscrupulous individuals. The underwriting company in 2008 pioneered the online insurance transaction through their Interswitch enabled online access for the generation of the compulsory third party insurance for motor vehicles. The three banks have since deployed the

facility in their branches nation_wide for the convenience of their customers and non customers alike. The service enables a motorist to walk up to the counter in a banking hall of any of the banks, effect payment and obtain a certificate of motor insurance. Efekoha therefore enjoined Nigerians to take advantage of the platform as it not only guarantees a genuine source for their motor insurance cover, but also provides the statutory protection of up to N1 million to motorists for any liability that they may incur against third parties in the course of usage of their vehicles. The third party insurance cover is one of the several classes of general insurance cover being underwritten by the company and it is available in the three banks, through insurance brokers/offices of the company a n d a l s o o n l i n e f r o m www.motorthirdpartyonline.com. In line with the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s determination to render qualitative services to the customers Consolidated Hallmark Insurance plc (CHI) exhibited its various products at Lagos Business School Alumni Association

L-R: Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan, Deputy Commissioner for Insurance and Mr. Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance/CEO, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), at the Flag-off of Compulsory Insurance Products in Sokoto, recently.

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*Efekoha Exhibition in Lagos recently. CHI was the only insurance company that showcased its products at the exhibition. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Managing Director, Eddie Efekoha, explained that the insurance firm is always desirous to put the customers first and ensure that their expectations are not only met but also surpassed. In view of the fact the level of insurance awareness is still low in the country; he affirmed that CHI will always make itself available at forums where the needed awareness about the industry can be created so that more people can embrace insurance as a way of life. Efekoha stressed that the insurance outfit appreciates the need to continuously create awareness about the insurance industry so that more people can be educated on the benefits of patronising the insurance companies. In addition to showcasing the company and its products to a distinguished audience, the exhibition afforded CHI the opportunity to meet many customers face to face, make new contacts and get acquainted with new marketing trends. Also, CHI used the opportunity of the exhibition to avail visitors to the stand of a practical demonstration of the do_it yourself motor third party online platform where motorists can generate their own certificates online and make payment using their interswitch enabled ATM cards.

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ontinental Reinsurance Plc and six other African reinsurers buffed up the 37th African Insurance Organization (AIO) conference and general assembly in Banjul , Gambia. The other reinsurers that actively sponsored the just concluded AIO included: African Reinsurance Corporation, Ghana Reinsurance, CICA Re, Munich Re, Aveni Re, Mainstream Re and CKRe. The African reinsurance companies up_lifted this year AIO financially and also took their turn to sponsor lunch or dinnerat the 2010 AIO conference. Continental Re had always supported insurance activities within and outside Africa including the CIIN, AIO and FANAF to mention but a few. The company have over the years lend its moral and financial supports to insurance bodies and trade groups and had, more often than not, sponsored lunch or dinner for which time and again feted between 400 and 700 participants. Mr Adeyemo Adejumo, Managing Director of Continental Re told journalists in Gambia that Continental Re would continue to support and contribute its quota to the growth and development of African insurance industry. Adejumo said the company had always wittingly rendered support including financial support to trade bodies within and outside Nigeria. It would be recalled that the then President of Federation of Insurance Companies in Africa (FANAF),

Continental Re, six other African reinsurers buff up 2010 AIO

*(L-R) Mr Sunny Adeda, President, CIIN, Mr Adeyemo Adejumo, MD, C Re and Mr Sunday Thomas, New DG, NIA at the AIO. Mr. Andre Bayala four years ago commended Continental Re and others for their support to the body. Said Bayala: “it must not escape our memory to give due recognition to the countries, companies and eminent personalities that have supported our industry. Our partners who stayed with us through tick and thin with their beneficial services to our industry as well as our members that have through commitments, donations supported our ideals which help to consolidate and make our association even stronger today.”

He continued, “this evening, our main purpose is to express our profound gratitude to these countries and companies for all their support to us and what they stand f o r. C e r t i f i c a t e s o f honour/recognition will be given to them in Bronze, Silver, and Gold, we could have done better but our finance did not permit us. "Our certificate of honour/recognition in silver also goes to Continental Re, Munich Re, Swiss Re, Zep Re, Re and Partner Re for their wish to take bold step in our zone.

Oman Ngadi, Soyewo head new AIBA executives

frican Insurance Brokers Association (AIBA) has elected new executives chaired Morocco ’s Mr Oman Ngadi as Chairman of the association and Nigeria ’s Prince Feyisayo Soyewo as vice_chairman after the demise of two members who died within 48 hours. The body’s late chairman, Chief John Akin_George died on April 27, in Nigerian while its late vice_chairman, Mr Kwesi Essel Koomson died on April 29 in Ghana . Both were keys members of AIBA. The African brokers association has a good number of reputable brokers within and outside the continent including Mr E.B. Nsiah, David Pratt and Mr Ben Rossouw South Africa, Mr

Sam Mintah, Liberia , and Mr Albert Nduna from Zimbabwe AIBA has a Secretariat, headed by the General Secretary. The Management (Executive) Committee headed by the AIBA Chairman and with Membership elected from the four Regional Groups of West Africa, North Africa (Francophone), Central and East Africa and South Africa , overseas the day to day affairs of the association. A member is either an insurance Broker or Consultant or Insurance Brokers / Consultants Association, domiciled within a member country of the AIO, registered with the AIO and whose principal business is insurance or related matters.

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TREND

Sovereign Trust Restructures Operations

*Onaolapo

he management Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has announced a restructuring of the company’s

operations after it was ratified by the Establishment and Business Committee of the Board of Directors. The restructuring exercise which is part of efforts to constantly optimise the operations and profitability of the organisation, has since become effective. Under the new dispensation, the erstwhile Divisional Head for Technical, Biodun Adeosun becomes the new Divisional Head for Business Development with responsibility for Public Sector Accounts/Direct Clients, Agency Operations, New Product Development and Research. Tajudeen Rufai is now the new Divisional Head, Technical,

Pension Funds Must Aid Economic Growth — PenCom

he National Pension Commission (PenCom) is desirous at seeing judicious investment of pension contributions so that the funds can help in facilitating the growth of the nation’s economy. With accumulated pension contributions running to over N1.6trillion as at February 2010, the PenCom is seeking collaboration with theInfrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) for massive investment in long_term infrastructure finance. “The funds are accumulating by the day and we think it is appropriate to develop a framework that will enable investment of the funds in appropriate areas that can translate into economic growth for the country,” PenCom Commissioner in charge of Technical Services, Miss. Eyamba Henshaw, said in Abuja recently. Eyamba, who led a team of PenCom management and representatives of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation at a meeting with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, described such window of investment as capable of creating more jobs and thus leading to more pension contributors and an eventual growth of pension funds.

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This move is coming barely a month after the Infrastructure Finance Office of the Central Bank of Nigeria suggested long_term infrastructure finance by insurance firms and pension fund administrators. Henshaw noted that “the experience in Latin America with the use of pension contributions to fund infrastructure resulted in a lot of development”. She therefore called for sustainable collaboration between PenCom and ICRC. According to her, “Foremost in our approach in this direction is the safety of funds and then returns.” She stressed the need to protect pensioners against inflation using relevant instruments with support from the World Bank and IFC. ICRC Director General, Mr. Mansur Ahmed, described the proposed intervention of PenCom in infrastructure finance as a timely development ‘in this time of global economic downturn’. The Contributory Pension Scheme established by Pension Reform Act 2004 for employees both in the public and private sectors of the nation’s economy, is meant to guarantee better life for workers after retirement. This is taking into consideration the objectives of the scheme and the salient provisions contained in the Pension Act.

with the responsibility of directing the affairs of the Marine and Engineering Department, General Insurance, Claims, Reinsurance and Branch Operations. Sanni Oladimeji, Assistant General Manager formerly in charge of the Corporate Services Division moves to Head the Risk Management and Control Department of the organisation. The change is expected to facilitate correct implementation of the new ERM Framework being developed to strengthen Corporate Governance and also satisfy special requirements in the Insurance Industry Operational Guideline issued by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). The Department is responsible for ERM, (Enterprise Risk Management) as it affects the operations of the organisation, Compliance and Internal Audit Functions.

Jason Enwefah becomes the new Divisional Head for Corporate Services with responsibilities for Training and Manpower Development, Human Resources, General Internal Services and Legal Services. With this new development, the organisation now has six Divisions, namely: Marketing and Relationship Management Division, Technical Division, Corporate Services Division, Energy Division, Finance and Investments Division and Business Development Division. Sovereign Trust has constantly been reiterating its uncompromising stance on continuous manpower development as the basis for sustainable operational efficiency and business profitability. The management says it has identified this as the key critical factor for providing enhanced and seamless insurance service delivery to all policyholders under the stable of the organisation. The company maintained it is not resting on its oars in ensuring that every employee in the system is adequately trained and developed to cope with the dynamics of the modern trends that are likely to emerge in this decade in the insurance and financial services in the country.

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Govt. Stakeholders call for unreserved support for insurance growth in Africa

uch as Africa is eager to survive from the global financial crises and take its citizenry out of poverty, Government and stakeholders in insurance has called for unalloyed support for growth and development of the continent’s insurance industry. They believe that it is in every body’s interest and imperative to support the development of a strong insurance industry in Africa particularly now that the impact of the global financial crises is hitting hard on many sectors. To this stakeholders, insurance is a big catalyst for economic growth and must be given support. Isatou Njie_Saidy, Vice_President of the Republic of The Gambia, in her opening address at the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference in Banjul, The Gambia said in addition to providing risks transfer services to individuals and corporations, insurance

*Ikupolati DG, WAII facilitates trade and commerce, mobilises savings for investment and ensures efficient allocation of capital. Njie_Saidy said the government of Gambia is unreservedly committed to the development of insurance industry through a capital argumentation which has helped to strengthen the companies in their risk bearing capacity as well as enhance their ability to underwrite big ticket risks. “To protect policy holders and ensure that business is conducted safely and soundly, the industry would continue to be stringently, albeit in a manner that does not stifle innovation. According to her, the

global economic crisis which started as a financial crisis in rich countries is now transforming into a full scale global economic crisis hitting developing countries hard and worsening the economic situation companies including insurance. Africa she said was indeed hard hit by the crises as result of the confluence of the fall in global trade, decline in foreign direct investment and massive reversal of private capital flows, decline in remittance, sharp reduction of revenues from tourism and reduced access to credit and trade financing. Dr Mike Ikupolati Director_General of the West African Insurance Institute (WAII) sees signs of hope even in the insurance industry in Africa stating that markets are opening up with new industries emerging. Ikupolati who doubles as the chairman of Transport and Accommodation of the conference notes that there has been a significant cutback in spending of insurance companies in Africa and around the globe because of the realization that the world economy is truly global and interrelated, while calling on the support of all stakeholders to give insurance the needed leverage as a major arm of the financial services sector.

Experts Advocates Terrorism Insurance

he thwarted plot to blow up a sport utility vehicle in New York’s Times Square on May 1 serves as a reminder that the threat of terrorism remains at the forefront of risk management. The key drivers that influence terrorism insurance pricing include location of risk, insurer’s accumulation of exposure, concentration of exposure, and available market capacity. Stand_alone rates can, at times, be more competitive than the pricing of embedded terrorism in property programs, and for some clients the stand_alone approach may be appropriate and worthwhile to investigate, according to Tarique Nageer, Marsh Property Specialised Risk Group. Stand_alone terrorism insurers are regularly monitoring, and reacting to, the evolving global business environment and global terrorism activity. Insurance experts have consistently been suggesting that a long_term insurance plan against

future acts of terrorism is essential in order to ensure economic stability and health. In advocating for terrorism insurance programme, analysts are always quick to point at the September 11th attacks of 2001 in the US, which saw massive destruction of life, as well as destroying the World Trade Centre and sending fear and uncertainty into world economic markets. It is believed that the threat of future terrorist attacks still posed significant risk to the US economy, and until some form of wide_ranging insurance programme is put in place, this level of uncertainty will continue to bear out on world stock markets. After the attacks of September 11, markets across the world were sent spiralling, with no previous precedent or rulebook for insurers and businesses alike. As a result, the global economy was thrust into widespread uncertainty and confusion, leading to a worldwide recession and downturn in business investment. With

claims after September 11 totalling $31.6 billion (about £16 billion), the insurance experts are calling for a similar insurancemeasure to be put in place for future events, tracking the rate of inflation from the level of payouts in 2001. Analysts have suggested that the global economy would benefit from more available terrorism risk insurance, bringing more certainty to markets in the event of any future crash as a result of a major terrorist attack. With the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act winning support in the US House of Representatives, the likelihood of more extensive protection measures is increasing. The bill will be presented to the Senate in the near future before it can be passed as law. Should it pass, it will allow businesses in the US to take advantage of insurance policies against resultant damage from terrorist attacks in future.

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ife specialist underwriting firm, African Alliance Insurance plc has successfully weathered the storm in the volatile business environment for last fifty year, with asset base grown to N22 billion and capital base N10.2 billion at the end of 2009 financial year. The company which rolled out drums over the recently to mark its golden jubilee anniversary could boost of two offshore subsidiaries – Ghana Life Insurance Company which it won in a bid during Ghana ’s recapitalisation exercise in 2008 and Alert General Insurance Company, Monrovia , Liberia . Besides, African Alliance has diversified to other sectors of the economy and now owns companies in the hospitality and tourism industry including Frenchies Foods Nigeria Limited and Axiom Air Limited, a cargo airline services firm. Alphonse Okpor, managing director of the company who disclosed this during the golden jubilee ceremony which took place at the City Hall Lagos Island said considering the business environment which the industry has operated, there is every reason to celebrate. Okpor said to record fifty years of existence either as individual or as a corporate entity is not an easy feat,

African Alliance opens offshore branches in Ghana, Liberia ….Marks 50-years of successful business

*Okpor MD, African Alliance looking that the challenges which insurance as an industry and the global economy have faced.

*(L-R) Mr Sunny Adeda Senior Vice President, Energy Practice of Marsh Limited, Mr Jonathan Raven; Executive Director of IBN , Mr Eric Omozejele, during the vists of NCRIB delegation to the Marsh Limited as part of the Council's visit to the UK.

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According to him, in Nigeria one of the major challenges to people’s participation in insurance is the public misgivings about the operations of the business, and this according to him worsened during the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) years when the industry was crippled by inflation. “This wrong perception coupled with the idea that insurance is an endeavour meant strictly for the elite, pose a major stumbling block to the spread and indeed the survival of the business”. For African Alliance Insurance plc to have waded through these troubled waters and still remain standing indeed calls for celebration, he said. Cyril Ajagu, chairman of the company in his remarks said man can do nothing without God, giving all the glory to God for sustaining the company and the vision of its founders. He charged the management to continue in their hard work why praying for God’s continued support for the company. Meanwhile, the event presented an opportunity for the company to reward its staff that have served the company for twenty one years and above; sixteen years to twenty years and ten years to fifteen years. Those in the upper category got Thermocool Deep Freezers while others LCD Plasma Televisions. African Alliance started business in 1960 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange September 2009 after successfully crossing the insurance industry recapitalisation which increased the capital base of life companies from N150 million to N2 billion in 2007.

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African Alliance Insurance PLC clocked 50 years recently. See Clips of one of the events marking the Anniversary

1) Messrs Victor Emezi, DGM, Marketing, Mr Ope Oredugba, former Managing Director, Mr Ivan Avereyireh, Managing Director, Ghana Life Insurance Company Ltd and Mr Alphonse Okpor, Managing Director, African Alliance. 2) Cross Section of staff at the Lecture. 3) Staff of the Company at the event. 3

Stakeholders applaud CBN as Okhakia unveils book

he recent circular by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to scrap Universal Banking believed to have exposed bank depositors fund to high level risk has continued to generate concern of stakeholders in both insurance and banking. Far from expectation of many analyst that the new policy would pitch the banks against their insurance counterparts since it intends to take away part of the operations of the banks to the insurance companies, the reverse has become the case. Against this belief, it’s interesting that the banking operators are seeing the coming reform as worthwhile and objective to achieve a strong financial system. They believe that instead of resulting to a loss situation for them, it is a win_win situation for

both sub sectors as it would make banks concentrate on their core operation which at the same time offer the banks an effective distribution channel for its products through a mechanism of bancassurance. Olusegun Osilowo, executive director Intercontinental Bank plc who represented the Group managing director, Mahmoud Layi Alabi at a book presentation in Lagos said the planed scrap of Universal banking in Nigeria will make operators of both insurance and banking to focus on core objectives of their business. Osilowo who spoke at the book presentation “Fundamentals of Bancassurance Practice in Nigeria” written by Joseph Okhakia said he is not in doubt that the new CBN reform will address some of the challenges that are currently affecting the financial services sector, and would

definitely boost the application of bancassurance by the insurers. Fola Daniel, commissioner for insurance in his opening remark at the event said the book offers a good understanding of how banks and insurance can engage each other on a symbiotic relationship to promote the financial services industry. He said the promotion of bancassurance is in line with the commissions Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) of the National Insurance Commission to promote retail sales of insurance products. “I pledge the commission’s support in promoting cordial relationship and co_existence between the operators in the financial services sector”. For Godwin Wiggle, managing director, Linkage Assurance plc reviewer of the book, bancasurance has been the major strength of bank owned insurance companies in retail sales and would get deeper as more insurance companies align with the banks.

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A cademy of Learning, A Computer & Business Career College recently opened it's office in Lagos. See Pictures

A) (L-R) Messrs Tony Aletor, Toyin Eleoramo and Tope Smart. B) (L-R) Mr Tope Smart, Mrs Elma Hancock, CEO, Academy of Learning, South Africa and Mr Bimbo Siyanbola, Managing Director, Academy of Learning, Nigeria.

he Chief Executive Officer of Premium Pension Limited, Alhaji Aliyu Dikko, has said about N11.2 billion has so far been paid as benefits to the retirees by the pension fund administration firm across the country. Premium Pensions is one of the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) licensed by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to administer the contributory pension scheme in the country. Speaking at a retiree forum organised by the company in Kano recently, Dikko stated that the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) has distinguished itself in several ways especially through service delivery. He added that the forum held in Kano was the fifth in the series after the ones hosted in Enugu, Calabar, Kaduna and Ilorin where clients were educated on the different processes and documents for retirement benefits. The Premium Pension boss, who was represented by head of business development south_west and North, Mallam Hamidu Mohammed pointed that 3,144 normal/ voluntarily retiree has also being paid. He said 178 death retirees also received their benefits

C) (L-R) Mr Akin Onifade, Mrs Elma Hancock and Mr Ayo Ojo, MD, Gulf Insurance Brokers.

Premium Pensions Pays N11b To Retirees through their next of kin, pointing out that all is going well as the retirees were fully patronising their scheme through Premium Pensions. According to him, the retiree forum also afforded clients an opportunity to ask questions that bothered on retirement benefits, adding that employee of Federal Government, FCT, the private sector and state government were beneficiaries of their payment. The CEO of Premium pension also assured that those in private sector have also benefitted after they joined the contributory pension scheme by opening Retirement Saving Account (RSA). Determined to render qualitative service to its customers, Premium Pensions Limited has forged a strategic partnership with HP, CPAS Systems Inc., and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The trio, according to the management of the pension fund administration company ensures that the Premium Pension enjoys world class professional support.

In spite of its technology deployment, Premium Pension believes that personal contact and service is key to its success. Premium Pensions is run by competent and trustworthy management team. The staff of Premium Pensions are knowledgeable, friendly and passionate with our clients' needs and circumstances especially clients in payments of pension benefits and meeting the needs of our members residing in remote locations. The investments of the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) are well thought out and are in line with the National Pension Commission (PenCom) regulations to guarantee security and competitive returns to its members. Premium Pension has procured and installed up_to_date state of the_art technology platform to run a user and customer friendly operations that are error free and accessible by our clients through Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) and the internet.

TREND Photo News

Faces at the 2010 Confab of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) held in Banjul, The Gambia *Mr Johnnie Wilcox with Professor Joe Irukwu

*(L-R) Mr Kwatri Yusuf, Mr Fola Daniel, Mr Ken Aghoghovbia and Mrs Funmi Omokhodiion

*Prince Mike Ikupolati with other delegates.

*Sir Dipo Bailey and others

*(L-R) Mr Segun Balogun, Mrs Tobore Ojumah and Mr Valentine Ojumah.

*(R-L) Mr Eddy Efekoha, Mr Sunny Wiggle and Mr Tunde Oshadiya

*(R-L) Mr Wale Onaolapo, Mrs Victioria Eze and Mr Andy Azike

*(R-L) Mr Femi Shoyombo, Mr David Sobanjo and Mr Yemi Akinyemi.

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Photo News

Faces at the 2010 Confab of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) held in Banjul, The Gambia *Sir Justus Uranta, Mr Fola Daniel and Mr Amos Adeyeye.

*Mr Wale Onaolapo, Mr Larry Ademeso and Mr Tom Imokhai

*Delegates from NAIC

*Niger Insurance delegates

*(L-R) Mr Yinka Bolarinwa, Mr George Onakhena and Mr Eddy Igbeti

*(L-R) Mr Valentine Ojumah, Mr Sunday Kehinde and Mr Raymond Akalonu.

*(L-R) Mrs Tonia Smart, Mrs Seyi Ifaturoti and Mrs Yetunde Ilori.

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*(L-R) Mr Folusho Adedeji, Mrs Stella Omoraro and Mr Bisi Adewale.

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Photo News

Faces at the 2010 Confab of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) held in Banjul, The Gambia *(L-R) Mr Austin Nwankwo, Mr Wale Banmore, Mr Larry Ademeso and Mr Bukola Ademola.

*(L-R) Mr Jide Aminu, Prince Feyiseyo Soyewo and Mr Bola Temowo.

*(R-L) Mr Tunji Nosiru, Mrs Mary Adeeyanju, Mr Bayo Fakorede and Mrs Victoria Eze.

*(L-R) Prince Feyi Soyewo Mr Lekan Okunoren and Mr Wole Adetimehin

*(L-R) Mr momoh Odamoh, Mrs Stella Omoraro and Mr Andrew Ikekhua.

*Mr Tunji Oluyemi and others

*(L-R) Mr Femi Fuwa, Mr Femi Okunniyi and Mr Omotayo Abu, all of Goldlink Insurance PLC.

*(R-L) Sir Dipo Bailey, Dr Wole Adetimehin and Mr Yinka Bolarinwa.

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Photo News

Faces at the 2010 Confab of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) held in Banjul, The Gambia *(L-R) Mr Jide Aminu, Mr Sunny Wiggle, Mr Eddy Efekoha, Mr Teme Mirilla (TT), Mr Eddy Igbeti and Deacon Clement Atere.

*(R-L) Mr & Mrs Sunny Adeda, and Mrs Seyi Ifaturoti.

*(L-R) Mr Steve Ajudua, Mr Emmanuel Jegede, Mrs Nkiru Nzegwu, Mr Bayode Samuel and Mr Tajudeen Solesi, all of NICON Insurance PLC.

*(L-R) Mrs Margret Moore, Mrs Amaka Nziwe and Mrs Nkiru Achara.

30) *(R-L) Mr Sola LadipoAjayi, Mr Akin Leigh, Mr Wole Adetimehin and Mr Ezekiel Chiejina.

*(R-L) Mrs Ukachi Orji and Mr Kayode Adebanjo.

*(R-L) Mr & Mrs Godwin Odah with Mr Ezekiel Chiejina

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*(R-L) Mr & Mrs Tope Smart with Mr & Mrs Segun Balogun

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PenCom Promises To Protect Whistle Blower

ased on the Whistle Blowing Guidelines issued by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for operators in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pension industry, Compliance Officer of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) or Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) is mandated to report breach of Pension Act to PenCom. In line with Section 68 of the Pension Act, the Compliance Officer of the PFA/PFC has the statutory responsibility to report any breach of the Pension Act, codes, guidelines, rules and regulations issued by the commission, in the course of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business, to the commission. The directors, management, employees, and any other person(s) that have dealings with the PFA/PFC also have the responsibility to report breaches to the Commission. The PFA/PFC are to ensure that its members of staff are aware of their responsibilities with regards to whistle blowing and that they are conversant with reporting procedures. The Commission is required to protect the identity of a whistle blower even in the course of an

investigation, resulting from the report. As PenCom acknowledges the potential impact of a report on the relationship between the whistle blower, if an employee, and his employer, consequently, the PFA/PFC are required to undertake that in the event of their employee blowing the whistle on its unethical or illegal operations or activities, such employee shall not be victimised in any way. The undertaking is in writing to the Commission. In the event that such employee is victimised, the Commission shall be obliged to employ appropriate regulatory tools to offer redress to the employee concerned. Breach of Pension Act that are of material significance A breach shall be of material significance to the Commission where a contributory cause of the breach is: (a) Dishonesty including fraud, bribery and other corrupt practices; (b) misuse/misappropriation of assets or contributions; (c) poor corporate governance; (d) inadequate controls resulting in deficient administration; (e) failure to pay contributions correctly or promptly; (f) inappropriate decision_making practices; or (g) acting or failing to act in the face of a deliberate contravention of the law, regulations, guidelines and rules issued by the Commission. Breaches likely to impact on functions of PenCom Breaches that are likely to impact on the functions of the Commission shall include substantial failures in any of the following: (a) remittance of the right amount of contribution into a Retirement Savings Account (RSA), and at the right time by the employer; (b) legitimate and timely payments out of the pension fund by the PFA; (c) investment of pension funds in line with the provisions of the Investment Guidelines, issued by the Commission; (d) proper administration of the pension fund and maintenance of appropriate records; and (e) issuance of accurate, clear and

*Ahmad timely information to RSA holders. PenCom has responsibility to protect whistle blower The Commission shall take steps to minimize any difficulties, which a whistle blower whistle blower may experience as a result of raising a concern. For instance, if required to give evidence in criminal or disciplinary proceedings, the Commission will advise about the procedure. Where the whistle blower is an employee of the PFA/PFC the following shall apply to protect the whistle blower: (a) No PFA/PFC shall dismiss, suspend or terminate the appointment of a whistle blower without the prior consent of the Commission. (b) No PFA/PFC shall demote or redeploy a whistle blower without the consent of the Commission. The PFA/PFC shall not in any way deny a whistle blower his/her entitlements in terms of promotions, salary increases, trainings and opportunities. (e) Any salary review or incentive that will affect the whistle blower negatively shall be referred to the Commission for approval, before implementation. (f) The whistle blower shall have the right to make to the Commission, any complaint, in writing against his/her employer, as he/she may deem necessary (g) Where the Commission finds violations against the whistle blower, by the PFA/PFC it shall issue a letter of caution and direct the PFA/PFC to retract whatever actions taken.

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he National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) plans to extend maternal and child health project of the Scheme to all the states in the Federation by the year 2011, says NHIS’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Muhammad Bello Dogo_Muhammad. He made this disclosure in Dutse, Jigawa State recently at an interactive session with health stakeholders. Dogo_Muhammad informed that at the moment, the project is operational in only 12 states including Jigawa, Niger, Bauchi, Katsina, Sokoto, Yobe, Gombe, Oyo, Ondo, Akwa_Ibom, Bayelsa and Imo. Dogo Muhammad also reiterated the federal government’s commitment towards ensuring the success of the NHIS programme, so as to ensure a healthy society. He therefore called on all state governments to also join hand with the federal government with a view to eradicating the menace of maternal and mortality rates in the country. The NHIS boss pointed out that the scheme can be improved by ensuring improved and sustainable funding, noting that more funds could be sourced from the consolidated revenue and or valued added tax (VAT). He said the agency is making effort to get funding through the revenue being generated by the federal government from the GSM operators, adding that the government can set aside part of the profit

NHIS Extends Maternal, Child Care To All States 2011 being realised from telecommunications to health sector particularly NHIS. He said the federal government had political will on developing the health sector. In the same vein, Jigawa State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Nashabaru re_affirmed the determination of the state government’s commitments towards improving healthcare services, saying government is willing to support any programme aimed at enhancing healthcare services for the citizens. The commissioner disclosed that even before the emergence of the NHIS the state Government had a policy of given free health care to all pregnant women, children under five years, prison inmates accident victims and students of boarding schools at all government hospitals across the state. Health insurance is a social security system that guarantees the provision of needed health services to persons on the payment of token contributions at regular intervals.. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is a body corporate established

under Act 35 of 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve the health of all Nigerians at an affordable cost. The NHIS Act is the statutory authority for the Scheme’s benefits programmes as well sets the general rules and guidelines for the operation of the Scheme. The evolution of the National Health Insurance Scheme dates back to 1962, when the need for health insurance in the provision of healthcare to Nigerian citizens was first recognised. The Government had initially provided 'free healthcare' for its citizens funded by its earnings from oil exports and general tax revenue. However, the global slum in oil prices in the 1980s greatly affected Nigeria's major source of income. Government could therefore no longer afford to provide free health, and subsequently introduced several cost recovery mechanism like user charges and Drug Revolving Funds. Further more the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme in 1986 adversely affected the health sector allocation.

Resolution of the 37th AIO Conference and General Assembly Held in Banjul, The Gambia

e the participants at the 37th AIO annual conference and general assembly, having discussed critical issues relating to the survival of the frican insurance industry in the face of the global financial crisis, do hereby resolve as follows: 1. That the survival, growth and development of the insurance industry in Africa will be greatly enhanced if we effectively deal with unethical practices such as rate undercutting, premium purchase, undermining of each other etc that have plagued the industry over the years and have contributed to low capacity, low profitability, poor claims settlement and generally low image for the industry in Africa. 2. That to be able to deal effectively with unethical behaviors, we must formulate a unified code of conduct agreeable to all practitioners as a tool for the regulation of the

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*Hassan-Odukale Member AIO Exco industry and have appropriate sanctions to deal with those who are in breach of the codes. 3. That we must recognize the role of other

stakeholders such as the judiciary, governments, customers and the general public in the enforcement of the code of ethics and work in concert with all to ensure adherence to ethical and highly professional standards. 4. That micro insurance presents a blue ocean of opportunities for the African insurance industry to reach out to the poor and vulnerable who form the majority of our societies. Micro insurance products demand innovativeness in both product design and channels of distribution and premium collection. 5. That a well managed micro insurance regime would not only result in long term profitability but would also involve the delivery of corporate social responsibility to the poor and vulnerable segments of our

Continues on page 22

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ll Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are required to make the unit prices of their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Funds readily accessible on their websites. More importantly, there shall be no access restrictions by way of password. This issued is in accordance with the guidelines by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to regulate the publication of rates of return on RSA Funds by the PFAs. The guidelines summarise the standards and requirements, and succinctly present good corporate governance practices, relative to publishing annual rates of return by the PFAs. It is mandatory for every PFA that has been in operation for a minimum of 12 months to publish its rate(s) of return either on a quarterly, semi_annual or annual basis and such publication shall be based on audited positions of the Fund. The rates of return of the

PFAs Required To Publicise Prices Of RSA Funds RSA Funds are regarded as an information tool to RSA holders signifying the performance of the Fund. Publication of same therefore, serves to highlight the PFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accomplishments and helps attract potential RSA holders to the PFA. The information should, however, present a

Resolution of the 37th Aio Annual Conference and General Assembly Held in Banjul, the Gambia Continues on page 22 societies and thereby go a long way to enhance our individual corporate and industry image. 6. That some critical factors to the survival, growth and continuous development of the African Insurance Industry are the effective and efficient management of the human and financial resources. 7. To this end, insurance companies must take urgent steps to put in place human resource management policies that will ensure the recruitment of the right caliber of personnel and their continuous training and professional development supported by attractive remuneration and other incentive packages that will ensure retention and high level performance and loyalty. 8. That our human resource development efforts should not be limited to lower and middle level personnel only but must also be extended to senior management and Board members whose corporate governance responsibilities are crucial to the sustainable development and profitability of companies. 9. That systems must be put in place for periodic assessment of performance of staff and Board of Directors preferably by independent external performance auditors. 10. That good financial management practices should be strictly adhered to since this will ensure companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capacity to meet claims obligations, deliver value to all stakeholders and shareholders and ensure that the insurance industry in Africa contributes effectively to the development of our nations and peoples. 11. That key to good financial management are the effective management of premiums

arrears, good and prudent investment decisions in conformity with regulatory guidelines which are usually put in place for the benefit of insureds and insurers. 12. That attention must also be paid to other equally important factors such as relevant and up to date IT infrastructure and other material resources. 13. That the survival of the insurance industry in Africa especially after the disastrous effects of the financial crisis hinges on the rebuilding of trust and confidence among consumers and no effort should be spared to achieve this. 14. That aside from the various things that we have to do to improve our internal operational efficiency and effectiveness, we must do all it takes to attract and manage consumer trust and confidence by acting in responsible ways regarding what consumers and our other key stakeholders consider fundamental and important to our business. 15. That our various national associations must take the lead in developing and implementing policies and programmes that will continuously enhance our professionalism, ensuring that we compete on professionalism innovation of products and customer service. 16. That our Associations must ensure that we mature in professionalism, adopt new attitudes and carve an image positive enough to facilitate the building of sustainable trust and confidence of the consumer and the general public in our industry. 17. Finally, that we must actively engage and continuously seek healthy collaboration and cooperation with regulators to ensure a conducive regulatory framework that will promote and encourage a vibrant and viable industry in Africa.

balanced view. Balance requires that the PFA should not only focus on its successes, but on other prevailing factors. The manner in which such information is presented, how the information is grouped, and the key elements of the information, can all have a significant impact on readers. To ensure uniformity, RSA Funds are expected to have the same accounting year_ends, which shall be 31st December of every year, commencing with the year 2007. The unit value disclosed in the audited financial statements shall be such value that is derived after all adjustments arising from the audit of the Fund have been factored in. Every PFA still has to publish its RSA Fund rate of return as at the end of every financial year ended 31st December. Calculation of the Rate(s) of Return of the Fund shall be strictly in line with Section 6 of the Regulation on Valuation of Pension Funds. Every PFA, publishing the unit price of the RSA Fund or the appreciation thereon, shall disclose the period during which such appreciation was achieved; and disclose the lowest and highest rate(s) of return for PFAs with published audited financial statement in the industry, as confirmed by the Commission, alongside its own rate of return. Before any PFA can publish the rate(s) of return on its RSA Fund or any other performance indicator, certain guidelines shall apply, the regulatory authority in the industry emphasises. These include the fact that the Fund must have been in operation for a minimum period of 12 months, in line with Section 6.1 of the Regulation on Valuation of Pension Funds. The financial statements and valuation report of the Fund must have been audited by an independent firm of Chartered Accountants. The financial statements audited by an independent firm of Chartered Accountants shall include a disclosure of the Net Assets Value per Unit of the Fund. The audited reports of the Fund shall be submitted to the PenCom, nt later than four months after the accounting year end, in line with Section 57 of the Pension Reform Act 2004. The audited reports of the Fund must be approved by the Commission.

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Academy boss task employers on staff development

he Managing Director, Academy of Learning , Computer and Business Career College , Mr. Micheal Siyanbola, has urged employers of labour to continually develop their employees in order to be able to cope with emerging challenges in the business world. Siyanbola emphasized the relevance of this during the opening ceremony of the academy in Lagos. According to him, “Employers of labour should constantly train their staff in different aspects of the business environment; this is because the financial environment is advancing daily, hence the need to keep up with the pace of development.”

Siyambola said that the academy, decided to partner the South African Academy in order to bring the knowledge necessary to develop personnel of various discipline. By this he added, it provides basic training for people from various career, ranging from insurance, banking, commerce, among others, through an integrated learning system. Chairman, Paul Esther Consulting Limited, Mr Olutoyin Eleoramo, noted that the firm was working together with the academy, and that it consider education as pivotal to individual and growth of

* (L-R) Mr Ken Aghoghovbia, Mr Bakary Kamara MD Africa Re., and Mr Sunny Adeda at the AIO in Banjul.

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*Siyanbola corporate organizations. According to him, “We wish to stress that training and development constitute a technical process by which individuals and institutions are provided with basic knowledge, skills and approach to perform better on current occupational fields for the enhancement of needed experiences. Learning management through training adds values to the trainee’s specific skills and resources r e q u i r e d t o p e r f o r m b e t t e r. Consequently, these create room for development of latent abilities and maximization of innate potentials to excel in current or subsequent endeavours.” The chairman disclosed that PEC has offices in Nigeria and the UK , duly accredited as management training institution by the Centre for Management Development, in Nigeria and recognised in other parts of the world in core areas of its competencies. He pointed its aim to assist organizations to increase their business and corporate performance. PEC, he added, expanded its consulting arm to areas of strategy and enterprise risk management, to help firms develop and horn their competitive advantages to adapt and prevail in the dynamic business environment.

TREND Ahead of June 30 deadline for insurance companies to submit their full year returns to the market regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), four out of the 49 underwriting firm have got their accounts approved by the Commission. The approved companies’ accounts are in line with the new reporting standard set out by the commission in line with international best practice that ensures credibility and transparency. Fola Daniel, Commissioner for insurance made the disclosure during an interview with BusinessDay at the ongoing African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference in Banjul , The Gambia. Daniel said what the commission has done is to situate an audited account of a Nigerian company with that of Kenya and South Africa such that when you put a Nigerian company balance sheet with that of their counterparts in other jurisdictions it will be the same. He said this has become necessary for credibility and transparency as Nigerian companies accounts were never respected by partners and insures outside the country. “We have seen multinationals rejecting our proposals because they do not believe in our reporting standard and I think its necessary we do ours in line with is obtainable elsewhere”. The commissioner noted that before now there existed more than five

Four insurance companies get approval of accounts for 2009

*Daniel reporting standard in the in the market among the companies, saying “we want to bring it to the standard of international respectability of one standard one market”. For example, in terms of reserve which is universal, that of many Nigerian firms is mellowed down and as such does not have a true reflection of that status of the firm, which the commissioner said has changed from the 2009 accounts. Daniel said though this aught to have been done some ten years back, but it’s coming at this time and must be properly done. On weather the new standard is in line with the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) being planed by the Commission, he said the IFRS is an evolving practice, that changes now is in line with Nigerian Accounting Standard Board prescription but on average would capture global practice. IFRS is an upgrade to what we have and we shall get there, Daniel said. On difficulty of companies getting approval on their accounts over backlog of unpaid premiums, he denied unaware of any difficulty, but said it was all in the effort to have insurance companies that their declarations can be believable. The issue of providing for unpaid premium of one year would not come up if we are to practice ‘no premium no cover principle’, so, abinitio, there should not

*Ifaturoti backlog of unpaid premium, it was only a concession, he said. According to him, the allowance period has been reduced to six months and would be removed completely in the future because if you sell insurance on credit in Kenya you are penalized by the market regulator. Meanwhile, the commissioner reviewing the theme of the conference “Survival of the African Insurance Industry in the Face of the Global Financial Crises” Daniel said the Nigerian Insurance industry survived the recession going by the unpublished results of insurance companies. The result we have so far indicate that we are making some arithmetical progression, showing marginal growth in the fundamentals and thinks is a good omen for the Nigerian insurance industry. Larry Ademeso, managing director, Royal Exchange Prudential Life said a proper reporting standard would go a long way in positioning the Nigerian insurance industry for global competition. He said a lot needs to be done by the commission in standardizing reporting so that companies can be measured by their real value. Ademeso would prefer that companies accounts are separated according to their line of business, that is life and non life rather than a combined account.

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he effort to boost African Insurance companies participation in the underwriting of oil and energy risk as well as aviation, sectors described as volatile has continued to witness a growing trend going by performance in the sector in the last financial year. Result shows that the Oil & Energy and Aviation Pools, an organ under the African Insurance Organization has generated combined income of $25.4 million for the 2009 financial year. Specifically, the Oil and Energy Poll generated $19.82 million dollars during the review year as against $16.40 million in 2008, representing an increase of 20.83 percent. From the figure the company generated an underwriting profit of $9.93 million dollars compared to $7.21 in the previous year, while the operating profit grew by 40.49 percent moving from $6.39 million to $8.99 million. For the Aviation Poll, premium income stood at $5.61 million, an increase of 15.39 percent as against

African Oil & Energy, Aviation Pools generate $25.4 million

â&#x20AC;Ś26 Nigerian insurance firms, others share 10% profit

*Sobanjo GMD, Aiico

$4.87 the previous year. The Pool gathered an underwriting profit of $2.45 million and an operating profit of $2.22 million, showing a 182.7 percent growth from

Board Members

*(L-R) Sir Dipo Bailey, Director, Mr Tony Aletor, GMD, Mr Torgbor Mensah, Chairman, Mr Julius Atikpui, Director, and Mr Bolaji Aiyejuyo, MD, all of Capital Express Insurnace Ghana after it's Board meeting... recently.

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$785,083.00 in 2008. Africa Reinsurance Corporation, Regional Director, Ken Aghoghovbia disclosed the performance of the Pools at the General Assembly of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO) held in Banjul , The Gambia. He said the Members of the Oil and Energy Pool involving twenty six Nigerian Insurance Companies and fifteen other insurance companies from different parts of Africa will share 10 percent of the profit as dividend for the year according to their individual stakes in the Pool. Aghoghovbia said the achievement of the Pool in 2009 can be attributed largely to the continued cooperation and commitment of the members. According to him, the Aviation Pool recorded growth even with the competitive nature of the market, stating that the account also grew during the period under review. He said that 2009 was however a disappointing year for underwriters as premium increased only by 10_15 percent which is less than the prediction made even mid way in the year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The African Aviation industry reflected similar trend as the international market marginal premium increases were experienced not only for airline business but also for general aviation in 2009â&#x20AC;?. He however thanked the members of the Pool for their support while optimistic about the future.

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Ghana Insurers mourns KEK

he Ghana insurance industry is mourning the death of Mr Kwesi Essel-koomson, the managing Director, KEK insurance Brokers limited. The late insurance guru began his working career with Alliance Assurance company, Liberia as underwriting manager in June 1979.From June 1982 to 1986,he was in Femi Johnson and company insurance Brokers Ibadan Nigeria. While he was at Ibadan Nigeria he conducted lectures for several Ibadan based staff of insurance companies who were writing the examination of Chartered InsuranceI Institute of London. While he was a visiting lecturer at the West African Insurance Institute, then located in Monrovia, Liberia, he was a parttime lecturer on Property and Transport

*Kwesi Essel-Koomson (KEK) Insurance at the School of Administration, University of Ghana, Accra. In 1990, he established KEK insurance Brokers Limited, Ghana’s largest insurance broking and consultancy firm with branches in Tema, Kumasi, Takoradi, and Sunyari, KEK Insurance Brokers is to Ghanian market what Hogg Robinson is to the insurance

New Motor Tariffs to commence 1st July

he Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) has noted recent developments and concerns of various sections of the public following the introduction of revised motor insurance tariffs which were duly approved by National Insurance Commission (NIC), the body that regulates the insurance industry in Ghana. The GIA notes that there appear to be some misunderstanding regarding the reasons for the revision of the old tariffs which had been applied by its members since 2002. The Ghana Insurers Association wishes to clarify the issues at stake as follows: • Benefits payable under the various sections of the motor policy have to be reviewed upwards to provide realistic protection to policyholders and the general public, in the line with current trends. • Personal Accident Cover for the policyholders, drivers and mates have been increased from GHC500.00 to GHC2000.00 per person i.e. a 400% increase • The Third Party Property Damage Limit has also been increased from GHC1000.00 to GHC 2000.00 i.e. a 100% increase. • The average cost of claims have significantly increased as a result of increases in the cost of

*Acolatse President, GIA vehicle spare parts, high compensations awarded by the courts for injury and death cases. • Furthermore, insurers have to meet specific

industry in Nigeria. In 2001 , KEK formed Integrated Risk Management West Africa Limited, an insurance risk management company , where he functions as chairman. Also , the chairman of KEK Reinsurance Brokers , the first and only reinsurance consultant in Ghana with reinsurance clients in Gambia, Liberia Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria. He has attended top flight training in insurance , accounting and management, and has participated in seminars, conferences and workshops in the five continents of the World. Mr William Agbenyega, Managing Director, Ghana Reinsurance company limited and President WAICA, said: “ KEK and myself were colleagues at Femi Johnson and company insurance Brokers , Nigeria, he was hardworking, thorough and does not believe in half measures. I was looking forward to his return but somehow death snatched him away , may his good soul rest in peace. Risk shield met him in Accra during the official launch of NEM Insurance Ghana limited, where he obliged to an interview request but that interview cannot hold again.

statutory obligations including the following: • Contributions to National Road Safety Fund, • National Health Insurance Fund • The industry contributes to the Motor Compensation Fund originally established as an industry initiative to compensate victims of motor accidents caused by uninsured vehicles and hit and run drivers. In addition to this, the industry also supports various institutions including the Police Service who we have in the past supported with breathalyzers, speed guns and funds to support their operations. The GIA is committed to ensuring that its members operate within the laws of Ghana and will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure a vibrant industry. The GIA therefore gives its full support to the Committee proposed by the NIC to address the matters arising from the introduction of the revised motor tariffs. The GIA believes that all stakeholders will engage in constructive dialogue, bearing in mind the need to develop a financially viable and responsive insurance industry to support the development of the country. GIA has received the assurance of the National Insurance Commission that a long period of uncertainty regarding the cost of motor insurance is not in the interest of both insurers and the insuring public; these issues will be resolved quickly for implementation to commence by 1st July 2010.

The Risk Shield

TREND Photo News

Ghana Insurance operators at the 2010 AIO Confab in Banjul, The Gambia

*(L-R) Messrs Ivan Avereyireh, C.C. Bruce and Atsu Menyawovor.

*(R-L) Mr William Coker, Mr William Agbenyega and Mr Alex Amartelifio.

*(R-L) Mr Max Cobbina, Mr Iyiola Saraki and Mr OforiKuragu Yaw Alfred.

*(R-L) Mr Kawsu Darbo (Gambian), Mr William Agbenyega, Mr Ofori-Kuragu Yaw Alfred and Mr Alex Amartelifio.

*(L-R) Mr Michael Babatope, Mr Razaq Abiodun, Mr Issa Abdul-Raman Anafure and Mr Iyiola Saraki.

*(L-R) Mr Bode Oseni, Miss Aretha Duku and Mr Uche Okugo.

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*Smart, GMD, NEM

*Soares AIO Scribe

*Kamuzora Past President AIO

Insurers in Africa seek new strategy as financial crisis dash opportunities A

s the global financial market toughens with shrinking prospect in returns in the money and capital markets, insurance firms are seeking improved underwriting practice to close income gap. Though it may not be very favoruable at the moment, it is after all in the best interest of the business as a lot of resources are now being injected to grow the core business of the industry. Before now however, the insurance industry has concentrated effort building investment and reaping from the huge growth in the money and capital market that characterized the global economy before the recent bubble burst. Analysts are optimist that the new trend would favour professionalism and consequently bring out the best out of underwriting business. Insurers who gathered at Banjul , The Gambia for the 2010 African Insurers Organisation (AIO) Conference have unanimously agreed that the trend has changed particularly in the last three years. The theme of the conference is “Survival of the African Insurance Industry in the face of Global Financial Crisis’. They have also unarguably agreed that more than ever before, improving the underwriting practice is the only way out in sustaining the business and creating value for the

future growth of the insurance business in Africa . Mr Tope Smart, managing director, NEM Insurance Plc said the present situation calls for repositioning as time has gone when the investment market was enough to meet company projections. Smart said since the business environment is changing, it also requires that organization reposition their strategy, employing the best human capital, best technology and getting the right products. These which he described as key driver of the new market environment according to him would form major part of organization’s spending to continue to remain relevant and deliver value to customers and give returns to shareholders. He stated that more emphasis now would be proper risk assessment of every risk to be absorbed so that claims obligation would not be much a challenge. Mr Israel Kamuzora, president of the AIO in his remark on the effect of the global financial market appreciated the confidence that has been reposed on the African market by its Asian, American and European partners in the wake of the global financial crises. He said this year’s conference intends to provide the insurance industry in Africa with the opportunity of reflecting upon its performance in the global insurance market against the backdrop of the events of 2009.

Kamuzora stated that despite the unprecedented global economic turbulence of 2008 and 2009, the insurance industry in Africa continues to grow both in volume of business and activity. “This is evidenced in the confidence which our business partners from Asia, Europe and America continue to place in African Insurance Business and help us grow our exposures and increase our capacity to underwrite risks”. He pointed that in the last five years, the mark has seen new developments taking place in the insurance market due to its renewed commitment in addressing the challenges that face the industry. He observed that, today in many African countries adoption of micro_insurance practice as well as bancassurance is a permanent agenda item for new business development. According to him this will achieve the desired impact through market awareness. “Similarly, insurance education is now being taken as the main objective for enabling the insurance market in Africa to grow faster and make the necessary contribution to the economy” This gives the African insurance industry the optimism required for positioning itself in the global market going forward, Kamuzora said.

The Risk Shield

BOOKSHELF Title:

Rich Management and Insurance

CHAPTER FOUR looked at the legal environment of insurance. The author reveals that the practice of Author : Remi Olugbenga insurance is based on the English law of contract .He went on to look at the essential features of a contract Reviewer: Obinna Chilekezi .Also, the insurance principles of utmost good faith , indemnity , etc were examined in the chapter. nsurance will always play a prominent role in any given CHAPTER FIVE further examined the insurance society .it is as a result of this that scholars worldwide has principles . The topics in this chapter includes insurable taken the pains of studying what insurance is all about and interest, and law, How insurable interest arise, classes of it’s importance to mankind. insurance, indemnity, subrogation, contribution , when The book under review has 159 pages and make up eight chapters .The author revealed in his preface, it is a result of his contribution operates, utmost good faith, proxinate combined lectures and experience gathered over a decade of cause, etc. teaching. CHAPTER SIX on claims settlement and In chapter one , the author looked at the problems of risk. Administration. Olugbenga referred to claims as the Adding “when someone states that there is risk in a particular acid test of an insurer’s reputation , as far as the situation the listener understands what is meant, that in the customer is concerned .this is because the way a claim is given situation , these is uncertainty about the outcome and the handled could make or mar an organisation .Thus, he possibility exists that the outcome will be unfavourable . went on , the handling of claims becomes perhaps the This instructive motion of risk , which implies a lack of most important aspect of the insurer”s advertising .the knowledge about the future and the possibility of some adverse best tool to create a good image for the insurer. consequence , is satisfactory for Other topics in this chapter are who may conventional usage , but for our purpose act for the insurers, claims procedure, a somewhat more rigid definition is exgratia payments, claims disputes *Adeda desirable. “ ,Arbitration, etc. Apart from the concepts of risk , the CHAPTER SEVEN is introduction to chapter also treated topics such as current reinsurance . The author states that while all definitions of risk , financial markets, insurance and reinsurance uncertainly and its relationship to risk, are changing, and since the late 1970s, there the degree of risk , Risk distinguished have been new types of contracts developed The book is from period and hazard, classification of known as “financial reinsurance ‘. However risk, the Burden of risk, Managing risk, most of the reinsurance “ is still in the a very good risk management, etc. traditional form’‘.the author defines introductory CHAPTER TWO is on introduction of reinsurance as a form of insurance whereby insurance. To the author , insurance is an an insurance company, or a lloyd’s syndicate text to arrangement by which One ,can transfer to another insurer(the reinsurer) party(insured) promises to pay another beginners in all arising under the contracts of insurance. party ( the insured or policy holder) a sum he added that this allows the insurer to the if something should happen which causes protect itself against the risk that its total loss the insured to suffer a financial loss. He profession could be so large as to wipe out the insurer “s went on to further states that the profit and possibly responsibility for the policyholder is then make it be insolvent. transferred from the policyholder to the CHAPTER EIGHT is on reinsurance .the insurer. The insurer in return for accepting author describe it as a phenomenon which , the burden of paying for losses when they generally, allows an underwriter to seek occur , the insurer charges the insured a cover in some other underwriting outfit in price called the insurance premium respect of objects or lives already insured by it he added Other issues treated in the chapter are operation of insurance, that in life office ,technically referred to the leading or origin of insurance in Nigeria, etc. principal, insures alike, but passes on some of the risk to CHAPTER THREE examined the major development in another life office, known as the reinsurer or Nigeria insurance industry. The chapter took a historical Guaranteeing office . excursion in Nigeria ,noting that prior to the advent of modern Remi Olugbenga is the current Head of Department of insurance, some form of social insurance has been existing in Insurance, the Polytechnic Ibadan as well as an the Nigeria society. Associate lecturer at the Ajayi Crowd University, Oyo. The chapter also worked at the features of insurance contracts The book is a very good introductory text to beginners , the structure of insurance market, insurance Association s, in the profession. etc.

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OPINION

The Underwriting of Oil and Gas Risks in Anglophone West Africa Continues from last edition

has been installed with the export facilities completed. A typical operator would require therwise, the operator is responsible for not only insurances to cover all his real and/or certain items used by the personal property or those in his contractor, but he also requires trust, care, custody and control or for insurances for Marine Third Party, which he may be contractually liable Seepage and Pollution, Removal of as would be listed in a schedule of Debris and Employers’ Liability. values. The operator would also require The contractors, on the other hand, would require insurances on rigs operator’s extra expense insurance to and equipment and/or vessels, P&I cover cost of control of well, on vessels, Employer’s Liability on extended re-drilling, clean-up and containment, seepage pollution and own employees and contamination, Pollution liability. underground control The development of well, making wells phase is undertaken safe, evacuation only if the discovery expenses, joint venture of oil is proven to be It has now contingent liability, commercially viable. become the deliberate well firing The stage will practice for a and removal of wreck require the single policy to be and/or debris. construction of purchased The operator is also appropriate facilities covering all col i kely to require to produce or partly venturers and to General Third Party produce and to provide full cover Liability to cover his export the oil or gas to the contractors operations for any to the point of sale or for their work on death, bodily injury, consumption of the the project, but p e r s o n a l i n j u r y, “unrefined” product. not for plant and disease, loss of or The Operator will equipment owned damage to and/or loss normally obtain a by the contractors of use of third party principal controlled property, including Construction All products liability. Risk insurance, even Increasingly, covers where many sought often include: contractors are involved, in order to minimize insurance cost on these Loss of Production revenue, War, Sabotage and Terrorism, Privacy and massive values. Kidnap & Ransom. An oil field can go into production Whilst the Operator could, during once a well has been connected into the operating phase, cover the above existing production facility exposures under one policy, (onshore) or an offshore platform coverage for Construction insurance

*Mr Ken Aghoghovbia Regional Director Africa Reinsurance Corporation

usually requires specialized wordings to cater for the unique features of Construction offshore. M o r e o v e r, b e c a u s e o f t h e complexity of modern construction projects, it has now become the practice for a single policy to be purchased covering all co-venturers and to provide full cover to the contractors for their work on the project, but not for plant and equipment owned by the contractors. UNDERWRITING OF OIL & GAS BUSINESS The required capacity to underwrite Oil and Gas business is almost exclusively provided by the subscription market. This is particularly true in the upstream sector where the subscription market – mainly London, Europe and New York – control over 90% of placements. A look at the sums insured of some of the recently covered Construction and Operational risks in the region will give an idea of the capacity required to underwrite these risks.

To be Continued The Risk Shield

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*Sanusi

•ABDUL-RASHEED AGBOOLA AKOLADE CONTINENTAL RE. PLC

FBN Life Assurance Company Limited Gets Licence Details Next Edition

INNOVATIONS

*Hamman

ONE ON ONE i, j ay Lanre A

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In ter n

A de

yo ,

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ng a

lec Te

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*Onaolapo