African Alliance Insurance Reaffirms Vow to Corporate Governance, Pays N8b Claims

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of oil benchmarks jumped by 2 per cent on Tuesday on the fresh possibility that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will extend or deepen supply cuts. Data showed that Brent crude futures gained $1.70 or 2.1 per cent to close at $81.68 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.55 or 2.1 per cent to $76.41 per barrel after a drop in Kazakh oil output and a weaker US Dollar. OPEC+ is due to hold an online ministerial meeting on Thursday to discuss 2024

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, has assured foreign investors of low production costs as they consider investing in the country’s mining sector. Speaking at the Mines and Money Conference in London, Mr Alake said President Bola Tinubu has embarked on reforms to boost investment by streamlining procedures and reducing hurdles to attract foreign investors. “The country’s geological bounty encompasses over 44 distinct mineral types, found in exploitable quantities across more than 500 locations,” the Minister said, according to a statement by his aide, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan. “Recently, recognizing the evolving global landscape and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira weakened further by 8.3 per cent or N67.28 on the American Dollar at the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, as investors intensified their demand for the greenback ahead of the festive season rush. Amid a squeeze in the supply of the foreign currency to the market, the value of the local currency closed at N881.88/$1 yesterday compared with the preceding session’s N814.60/$1. Though the supply of FX into the official market improved by 17.9 per cent or $18.00 million to $118.06 million from $100.06 million quoted on Monday, it was not

By Sodeinde Temidayo David The federal government has disclosed that it has commenced the implementation of new retirement age for teachers in the country. This disclosure was made in Abuja while marking the 2021 World Teachers Day celebration themed Teachers at the Heart of Education Recovery. At the 2020 World Teachers Day Celebration, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the extension of teachers’ retirement age to 65 years from 60 years or 40 years of service instead of the former 35 years of service. At this year’s event, the President said the Ministry of Education has commenced education officers’ guidelines to ensure

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Yesterday, the overnight rate depreciated by a very small margin as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued with its regular sale of treasury bills through the Open Market Operations (OMO). The interbank lending rate, which closed on Wednesday at 15.75 percent, stood at 15.50 percent on Thursday. In the same vein, the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate, which was at 14.83 percent on Wednesday, closed on Thursday at 14.67 percent. The slight decline occurred as the apex bank mopped up about N100 billion from the banking system. Result of the OMO auction yesterday showed that the

By Bliss Okperan The Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said as long as the nation’s borders are not properly secured, there will be insecurity, noting that efforts are being made to address this issue. Speaking at a breakfast meeting organized by Business Day in Abuja, where he was the Special Guest, Mr Tunji-Ojo emphasised that insecurity in any nation is reduced by more than 70 per cent if its borders are not left open to all. “Any country that cannot critically analyze, dictate and determine who comes in and who goes out of its country is prone to

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An experienced marketing and brand manager, Mr Babajide Sipe, has been chosen to head the Marketing and Corporate Communications department of Ecobank Nigeria Limited. This department of the financial institution has the responsibility of connecting customers to greater value in banking and ensuring that the innovative products are effectively articulated to the public. The Marketing and Corporate Communications department, under the leadership of Mr Sipe, has a huge task to position the bank for the future as its goal is to remain the go-to bank for pan-African trade facilitation and payments. This would mean leveraging the full

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it was taking steps to help the country save about $580 million spent annually to import cassava by-products. The Governor of the CBN, Mr Emefiele, said this on Thursday at the commissioning of the Rivers Cassava Processing Company. The integrated facility was established by the Rivers State Government in collaboration with Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, the Dutch Embassy Investment Nigeria Limited and their technical partners. The Rivers Cassava Processing Company was designed to support improved production and processing of cassava into high-quality flour in the state. Speaking at the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A company based in Ghana, Bulk Oil Distributors, has said it plans to patronise the Dangote Oil Refinery expected to begin operations in 2019. The oil buyers said arrangements have been put in place to import petroleum products from the world’s largest single-train refinery situated in Lekki, Lagos State. The oil facility is owned by the foremost industrialist and Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, who has interests in several companies spread across the continent. Hints of eager expectation and hopes on the Dangote Refinery were revealed at this year’s Ghanaian International Petroleum conference (Ghipcon 2018) which

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos State government had disclosed that a total number of 218 retirees have been paid the sum of N1.01 billion for the month of August 2020. This was made known by the Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Mr Babalola Obilana, at the 78th Batch Retirement Bond Presentation Ceremony, in Lagos. He noted that in view of the current COVID-19 pandemic across the world, LASPEC has changed its mode of distributing bond certificates to state pensioners, stressing that the retirees would now be attended to in batches, in compliance with the social distancing rules of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the week green as it saw a 0.35 per cent rise on Monday, August 28. The growth recorded during the trading day lifted the market capitalisation of the bourse by N3.87 billion to N1.104 trillion from the N1.101 trillion achieved last Friday, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased by 2.77 points to settle at 788.14 points, in contrast to the previous trading day’s 785.37 points. The performance of the NASD OTC exchange was buoyed by the improvements in the share prices of three companies on the platform, offsetting