Economy
Nigeria’s Insurance Sector Premium Grows 20.1% in Q2 2022
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s insurance sector, in the second quarter of this year 2022, recorded N369.28 billion premium, indicating 20.1 per cent growth compared to the performance in the same period the previous year.
This was contained in the latest sector performance statistics released by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), which indicated a 65.0 per cent quarter-on-quarter performance.
Describing this as a notable performance, NAICOM said the performance analysis was an insight into the market behaviour of the insurance sector in the period under review.
Giving a premium contribution analysis by each class of business, the commission said out of the N369.2 billion, life insurance contributed N150.0 billion, followed by oil and gas insurance which yielded N71.2 billion, fire insurance yielded N45 .3 billion, while motor insurance yielded N32.4 billion, with marine insurance contributing N26.9 billion premiums and general accident policy yielding N24.0 billion.
According to NAICOM, the performance showed that the insurance sector grew 20.1 per cent higher than the National Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3.5 per cent during the same period.
NAICOM said the proportional participation of each class of business suggested the continued improvement of the life insurance business as driven by its component of the individual life, noting that the Non-Life segment maintained its primacy at 59.3 per cent of the total premium generated.
“Insights in the segment show Oil & Gas was the leading driver at 32.5 per cent with a distant second at 20.7 per cent for Fire. Motor Insurance stood at 14.8 per cent while Marine & Aviation, General Accident and Miscellaneous reported a share of 12.3 per cent, 10.9 per cent and 8.9 per cent in this order.
“Life business, on the other hand, recorded 40.6 per cent of the insurance market production as its share contribution, gradually closing up. The share of Annuity in the Life Insurance business logged at about 24.7 per cent while Individual Life held a major driver position at 41.8 per cent of the premium generated during the period”, the commission said.
NAICOM said operational confidence remained high in spite of economic challenges in the financial system and the economy at large, as demonstrated by the relevant retention positions in the sector.
According to the commission, Life business retention for the period was 93 per cent while non-life recorded a ratio of 55 per cent as the industry average stood at about 70.5 per cent.
The commission said retention in the non-life, despite reporting an above-average level relative to its prior position of 59.4 per cent in the preceding year, would require focused attention for improvement as it declined by over four points representing eight per cent, year on year.
The commission said the sector during the period witnessed only 0.2 per cent growth in claims compared to the corresponding period of 2021. It said the industry’s statistics for gross claims in Q2 of 2022 stood at N174.8 billion, representing 47.3 per cent of all premiums generated during the period.
“This occasion reflects the professional underwriting capacity of the industry as driven by the intensified regulatory activities of the Commission. On the other hand, the net claims paid stood at about N148.2 billion, signifying 84.8 per cent of all gross claims reported during the period. The Life Insurance business recorded a near perfect point of about 88.90 per cent claims settlement as against the reported claims while the non-life segment stood at about 76.8 per cent”, NAICOM said.
According to the commission, the performance in the Oil & gas in terms of claims settlement recorded some improvement compared to quarter two of the previous year.
The commission was optimistic that sustained market development and growing confidence in the industry would eventually improve the negative peculiarities and challenges of that section of the market.
Profit-wise, NAICOM said the Insurance market remained profitable during the period, recording an overall industry average of about 56.9 per cent, thereby maintaining a relative position of 57.7 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of the preceding year.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has once again trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts.
The bloc made this in its latest monthly oil market report for December 2024.
The 2024 world oil demand growth forecast is now put at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previous 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, which is 900,000 barrels per day lower than the 1.54 million barrels per day earlier quoted.
On the changes, the group said that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
The oil cartel had kept the 2024 outlook unchanged until August, a view it had first taken in July 2023.
OPEC and its wider group of allies known as OPEC+ earlier this month delayed its plan to start raising output until April 2025 against a backdrop of falling prices.
Eight OPEC+ member countries – Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman – decided to extend additional crude oil production cuts adopted in April 2023 and November 2023, due to weak demand and booming production outside the group.
In April 2023, these OPEC+ countries decided to reduce their oil production by over 1.65 million barrels per day as of May 2023 until the end of 2023. These production cuts were later extended to the end of 2024 and will now be extended until the end of December 2026.
In addition, in November 2023, these producers had agreed to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024, in order to support prices and stabilise the market.
These additional production cuts were extended to the end of 2024 and will now be extended to the end of March 2025; they will then be gradually phased out on a monthly basis until the end of September 2026.
Members have made a series of deep output cuts since late 2022.
They are currently cutting output by a total of 5.86 million barrels per day, or about 5.7 per cent of global demand. Russia also announced plans to reduce its production by an extra 471,000 barrels per day in June 2024.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A minority equity stake in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited has been acquired by a Nigerian energy firm, Aradel Holdings Plc.
This deal came a few days after Chappal Energies purchased a 53.85 per cent equity stake in Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited (ENEC).
Chappal Energies went into the deal with Equinor to take part in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitised 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron.
Since production started in 2008, the Agbami field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, creating value for Nigerian society and various stakeholders.
As part of the deal, Chappal will assume the operatorship of OML 129, which includes several significant prospects and undeveloped discoveries (Nnwa, Bilah and Sehki).
The Nnwa discovery is part of the giant Nnwa-Doro field, a major gas resource with significant potential to deliver value for Nigeria.
In a separate transaction, on July 17, 2024, Chappal and Total Energies sealed an SPA for the acquisition by Chappal of 10 per cent of the SPDC JV.
The relevant parties to this transaction are working towards closing out this transaction and Ministerial Approval and NNPC consent to accede to the Joint Operating Agreement have been obtained.
“This acquisition is in line with diversifying our asset base, deepening our gas competencies and gaining access to offshore basins using low-risk approaches.
“We recognise the strategic role of gas in Nigeria’s energy future and are happy to expand our equity holding in this critical resource.
“We are committed to the cause of developing the significant value inherent in the assets, which will be extremely beneficial to the country.
“Aradel hopes to bring its proven execution competencies to bear in supporting Chappal’s development of these opportunities,” the chief executive of Aradel Holdings, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.
As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.
But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.
The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.
During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.
However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism8 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking6 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN