Economy
Insurance Sector Recapitalisation Will Proceed as Planned—NAICOM
By Dipo Olowookere
Commissioner for Insurance and CEO of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said the proposed tier-based capital structure of insurers operating in the country will continue as earlier planned.
On August 27, 2018, NAICOM, through a circular, informed insurance companies that their operations would now be reclassified into three tiers; 1, 2 and 3.
In the circular, the insurance sector regulatory agency had said the policy would take effect from January 1, 2019, but the commission later brought back the commencement day to October 2018.
The boards of insurance firms were also given till September 14, 2018 to submit their resolutions on how they intend to key into the policy.
However, some hours before the September 14 date, some shareholders of insurance firms obtained an order from Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos halting the implementation of the policy.
Speaking at a seminar for Insurance Correspondents in Abuja, the NAICOM chief said the agency was yet to receive any court order to stop the minimum solvency capital policy.
Mr Kari explained that the policy was mainly aimed at protecting consumers and operators of insurance policies in the country.
“As a regulator, we cannot shy away from our responsibility, which is to protect the shareholder, consumers and every stake holder, including the interest of the operators,” he said.
Commenting on the importance of Tier Based Minimum Solvency Capital, Mr Kari urged that the concept be embraced as it would help Nigeria’s insurance industry attain its position in the world.
The commissioner said the insurance industry was at a cross road of failure or survival but expressed optimism that the TBMSC would help build confidence of policy holders in the country.
“What NAICOM has done in this policy is to guide operators to understand the brackets of operation, which is the core of risk-based supervision, which the components have already been fully implemented.
“It will determine the class of business they will do based on the capital they have, that is having qualified to the minimum requirement.
“This policy will guide the operators, consolidate what we have done in the code of governance; policies and guideline submission and ensure that the insurance sector in Nigeria economy does not suffer when the next financial crisis will come,” he noted.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
