Economy
PFAs to Submit Micro Pension Media Campaign Plan by January 31
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are expected to submit their 2022 media campaign plan to the National Pension Commission (PenCom) on or before January 31, 2022.
The media campaign plan will detail arrangements set for the creation of awareness on the Micro Pension Plan (MPP).
First launched in 2020, the contributors in the MPP are just over 70,000, a development that moved PenCom to mandate PFAs to develop and forward an annual media campaign plan to drive subscription.
PenCom in a Framework For Enlightenment And Public Awareness For The Micro Pension Plan, sent to all pension fund administrators in the month of August 2021, said this is in line with Section 2.2 of the Circular on Service Delivery by Pension Fund Administrators.
The regulator also stated that it shall be required to develop an annual media campaign Plan for MPP on or before 31 January of each year.
PenCom noted that sequel to the release of the guidelines for the Micro Pension Plan, it identified the need to intensify public enlightenment in a sustained manner, in order to raise the level of awareness and acceptability of the MPP as a critical success factor.
It maintained that the framework spelt out the modalities for the Commission and Pension Fund Administrators to ensure effective and sustained enlightenment and public awareness drive of the MPP.
PenCom submitted that Section 2(3) of the PRA 2014 stipulates that employees of organisations with less than three employees as well as self-employed persons, shall be entitled to participate under the Scheme in accordance with Guidelines issued by the Commission, adding that Section 23 (f) of the PRA 2014 mandates the Commission to “carry out public awareness, enlightenment and education on the establishment, operations and management of the Scheme”.
The pension sector regulators said Sections 5.3.1(c) and 5.4.1(i) of the Guidelines for Micro Pension Plan 2018 stipulate that the Commission shall “create awareness by carrying out public enlightenment and education on the establishment, operations and management of MPP” and PFAs shall “conduct regular public awareness, enlightenment and education on Micro Pension Plan”, respectively.
Section 6.3.1 of the Guidelines for the Operations of Pension Fund Administrators stipulates that a PFA must obtain prior written approval of the Commission before advertising, promoting or providing information on its products and services or about its operations.
The entire material for distribution, advertising, promotion or informing the public must be submitted to the Commission for this purpose, it posited.
PenCom stated that the framework aims to achieve the following: Set minimum standards for enlightenment and public awareness on MPP and ensure adherence to best practices in Public Relations.
Ensure that PFAs set up appropriate structures to effectively carry out enlightenment and public awareness for registered and prospective Micro Pension Contributors (MPC); protect registered and prospective MPC from false and misleading information; form the basis for monitoring and evaluating the enlightenment and public awareness efforts of the Commission and PFAs on the MPP and achieve the Pension Industry’s strategic vision on expanded coverage of the CPS.
It noted that the following rules shall apply to the Commission and PFAs. PFAs shall establish a desk and appoint an officer to oversee all enlightenment and public awareness activities on the MPP in line with Section 7.1.1(i) of the Guidelines for the Micro Pension Plan, issued by the Commission.
All messages on the MPP shall be communicated in clear, explicit and easy to understand terms; the content of MPP messages shall not be false or misleading; PFAs shall, in conducting enlightenment and public awareness campaigns, comply with the Code of Ethics and Best Practices for Licensed Pension Operators issued by the Commission with emphasis on Sections 3.3 and 3.4 of the document.
All advertisements on MPP shall be in line with provisions of Section 6.0 of the Guidelines for Operations of Pension Fund Administrators, issued by the Commission and shall not violate any extant law and/or Guidelines issued by the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) or any other licensed body for the regulation of advertisement in Nigeria.
The Commission and PFAs shall use the most appropriate communication channels for the audience and the Commission and PFAs shall conduct impact surveys on their enlightenment and public awareness campaigns.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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