Economy
Ahmed Tasks African Insurers on Global Competitiveness
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has charged insurers across West Africa to strategise on repositioning the insurance industry on the continent for global competitiveness amid continued disruption.
The Minister gave this charge at the 50th anniversary of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) 2023 Educational Conference hosted by Nigeria in Lagos.
At the event themed Repositioning Insurance Industry in West Africa for Global Competitiveness, she said insurance has been characterised by low penetration and poor contribution to most African countries’ financial growth.
Mrs Ahmed, represented by the Commissioner for Insurance/Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Sunday Thomas, said maintaining an efficient, fair, safe, and stable insurance market in the West African sub-region must be promoted for the benefit of the policyholders and other stakeholders.
“As an optimist, we are encouraged to believe in a new dawn, leveraging technological innovations and a positive paradigm shift, focused and poised to meet the anticipated surge in the demand and untapped side.
“In the modern business environment, disruption plays an integral part of any business.
“The insurance industry, like other components of the financial system, is changing in response to a wide range of global social and economic forces.
“In particular, insurance and insurance-linked financial activities are increasingly crossing national and sectorial boundaries,” she said.
According to her, the 2023 WAICA educational conference could not have been more aptitude in view of the overarching objective behind the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to accelerate intra-African trade.
Mrs Ahmed emphasised the need to establish a high-quality insurance database to provide a holistic view of the industry’s operations in the sub-region.
The finance minister encouraged WAICA members to leverage technology and other alternative distribution channels to increase market penetration.
She said that multilateral cooperation must be enhanced with the objective of promoting international standards and fostering favourable investment environments and orderly markets in the West African sub-region and beyond.
“Consequently, it has become imperative for the Insurance supervisory systems and practices to upgrade in order to cope with these developments continually.
“This is to mitigate possible financial and systemic stability concerns arising from the insurance sector as they emerge.
“I congratulate all WAICA delegates on the occasion of the association’s golden jubilee and wish you a fruitful deliberation,” she said.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of the week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note on Friday with a 0.24 per cent rise.
During the trading day, the market capitalisation of Customs Street was up by N175 billion to N74.534 trillion from the N74.359 trillion recorded on Thursday.
In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the local bourse increased by 277.09 points to 118,138.22 points from 117,861.13 points due to sustained bargain-hunting by investors in the banking and commodity sectors.
Data showed that the banking index went up by 1.65 per cent and the commodity sector appreciated by 0.75 per cent.
However, the insurance industry weakened by 1.07 per cent, the industrial goods space lost 0.76 per cent, and the consumer goods and energy counters fell by 0.16 per cent each.
Legend Internet grew by 10.00 per cent to sell for N7.92, Ellah Lakes appreciated by 9.90 per cent to N5.33, Champion Breweries expanded by 9.63 per cent to N8.20, Guinea Insurance rose by 8.70 per cent to 75 Kobo, and eTranzact gained 7.52 per cent to settle at N7.15.
On the flip side, Sunu Assurances declined by 8.62 per cent to N4.56, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills lost 8.00 per cent to trade at N93.20, Thomas Wyatt moderated by 7.83 per cent to N2.00, Livestock Feeds retreated by 6.90 per cent to N8.10, and NEM Insurance contracted by 5.03 per cent to N17.00.
A total of 487.1 million units of shares worth N18.7 billion exchanged hands in 17,421 deals yesterday compared with the 894.0 million units of shares valued at N22.0 billion transacted in 17,257 deals in the previous day, indicating an improvement in the number of deals by 0.95 per cent, and a contraction in the trading volume and value by 45.52 per cent and 15.00 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Fidelity Bank, which traded 38.3 million units valued at N741.5 million, CWG exchanged 25.0 million units for N230.8 million, Zenith Bank transacted 24.9 million units worth N1.2 billion, Coronation Insurance sold 24.4 million units valued at N48.7 million, and Access Holdings traded 23.6 million units worth N517.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria led the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange to a 0.03 per cent growth on Friday, June 20.
During the session, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 24.15 points to close at 3,320.91 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 3,319.78 points while the market capitalisation added N670 million to finish at N1.944 trillion compared with the N1.943 trillion quoted at the preceding session.
Business Post reports that the share price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was up by 34 Kobo yesterday to N69.38 per unit from N69.04 per unit.
In the final trading day of the week, the volume of securities decreased by 14.9 per cent to 223,039 units from the 262,134 units traded a day earlier, but the value of securities soared by 233.2 per cent to N15.2 million from N4.6 million, and the number of deals slumped by 16 per cent to 21 deals from 25 deals.
At the close of transactions, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 536.9 million units sold for N524.7 million, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units valued at N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 268.5 million units worth N475.8 million.
Okitipupa Plc was also the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.7 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units traded at N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 40.5 million units sold for N1.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, June 19 amid forex liquidity strain.
During the trading session, the domestic currency gained N2.84 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback in the official market to settle at N1,547.71/$1, in contrast to the N1,550.55/$1 traded in the previous day.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira gained N2.76 against the Pound Sterling at NAFEM yesterday to quote at N2,081..36/£1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N2,084.12/£1 and closed flat against the Euro to finish at N1,799.35/€1.
Also, in the parallel market, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar on Friday by N5 to sell for N1,580/$1 compared with the N1,585/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
This week, the Naira performed well due to continued investor confidence and market optimism boosted by better non-oil exports over the last few months and offshore FX inflows, which eased forex pressure.
In the week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased further to 22.97 per cent in May 2025 from the 23.71 per cent recorded in April 2025.
In addition, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled that the health of the country’s banking system was okay amid fears of dividend pause for banks facing possible distress.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market turned bearish on Friday following escalating geopolitical tensions — triggered by Israel launching airstrikes on Iran last Thursday — caused cryptos to drop.
The tensions have only been mounting since, with US President Donald Trump calling for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and threatening Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ethereum (ETH) lost 3.8 per cent to sell at $2,424.38, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.5 per cent to close at $140.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $0.1630, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 1.3 per cent to trade at $0.5836.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 1.1 per cent to close at $103,555.63, Ripple (XRP) went down by 0.6 per cent to $2.12, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 0.6 per cent to $83.97, and Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 0.3 per cent to $643.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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