Companies
13 Unions in Nollywood have secured a landmark insurance deal for their members
13 unions in the Nigerian movie industry also known as Nollywood have signed a life insurance, healthcare and pension package . The life insurance package was facilitated by Leadway Assurance, while the pension deal was signed with Leadway Pensure PFA. An agreement for a healthcare scheme was also signed with Pinewood HMO.
Highlights of the deal
- The agreement was signed with 13 affiliates of Nollywood and is tagged NollyHealth Insured
- The 13 unions comprises of Association of Motion Picture Entertainment Editors of Nigeria (AMPEEN); Creative Designers’ Guild of Nigeria (CDGN); Cinematographers’ Society of Nigeria (CSN); Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN); Film & Video Producers’ and Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN); and Independent Television Producers Association (ITPAN).
- Other includee Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN); National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP); Screenwriters’ Guild of Nigeria (SWGN); Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Producers Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN) and United Movie Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (UMPAN).
- The 13 members will benefit from unified general insurance, healthcare, pension coverage and other benefits.
- Leadway Assurance will provide a life/general insurance policy for the unions, while Leadway Pensure PFA would cater for the pension funds of members. Pinewood will provide health insurance.
A scheme like this was long overdue
The insurance, health and pension package is one that is long overdue in the movie industry. Tales of actors soliciting for funds to take care of health issues or their welfare had become common place in the country. The nascent nature of the movie industry and poor copyright enforcement has meant that practitioners in the sector don’t earn as much as they should or have regular income.
The scheme however provides a high level of comfort for actors, directors and other crew members from occasional hazards that comes with the lifestyle while also giving them cover for their equipment. For this to work, members of the Union will have to pay their insurance premiums as and when due in exchange for the respective cover.
From the look of the deal, separate premiums may be paid for the Group life and non-life covers, and the health insurance. Members will also have to continue to contribute their respective retirement savings account to benefit from pensions when they eventually retire.
The deal may open other doors in the entertainment industry
If the scheme proves to be successful, Leadway could have a major revenue source as the movie industry in Nigeria is a growing one. Other Industries such as music and sports could decide to key in to the scheme. The relatively young age of the average Nollywood practitioner gives Leadway access to a long stream of income.
The deal could also pave way for other insurance companies who can easily replicate the model across other industries that are mostly dominated by sole entrepreneurs and startups, with the attraction being their ability to form a union or cooperative.
Risks involved
Partnerships like this are not new in the entertainment industry, but continuity is the issue. Once new heads of the guild are appointed, they prefer to pursue new programmes. Guilds are often factionalized, which could result in low participation in the scheme.
In previous schemes, actors often skipped payments till they required medical care. The informal nature of jobs in the industry, means payment may not be deducted from source, thus reducing consistency.
Leadway Assurance was established in 1970 and is one of Nigeria’s foremost insurance companies. The company had a gross premium of N8.7 billion in 2016 . Leadway pensure PFA is owned by a consortium of three companies: Leadway Assurance, Prestige Assurance and MBC Securities.
Companies
Lafarge Africa Plc. announces its board meeting and closed period for Q2 2020
The notification which was duly signed by General Counsel & Company Secretary.
Lafarge Africa Plc. notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investing public that he closed period will commence on Wednesday, 8th July 2020 until the unaudited financial statement for the second quarter ended 30th June 2020, is released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
In a disclosure on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it wrote: “We hereby notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investing public that a meeting of the Board of Directors of Lafarge Africa Plc has been scheduled to hold on Thursday, 23rd July 2020 to consider the second quarter financial results of the Company for the quarter ended 30th June 2020.”
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The notification which was duly signed by General Counsel & Company Secretary, Mrs. Adewunmi Alode explained further stating that “Accordingly, no Director, employee, persons discharging managerial responsibility and Advisers of the Company and their connected persons may directly or indirectly deal in the shares of the Company in any manner during the closed period.”
Over the past few months, it made a few board changes with the retirement of two of its Non-Executive Directors, as well as the appointment of three new Directors. It had also spun off its South African subsidiary, Lafarge South Africa Holdings (LSAH), last year.
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Lafarge Africa’s Q1 2020 revenue was up 9.8% year-on-year to N63.7 billion, driven by higher Cement Sales (a figure up 11% year-on-year to N62.3 billion) which offset the weakness in Aggregate and Concrete (down 21% y/y to N1.4bn). Its EBITDA grew by 2.4% year-on-year to N19.3 billion as well. As at Tuesday the 7th of July, the share price of the company was N10.00.
Companies
AXA Mansard Insurance Plc gives notice of Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be live-streamed to enable shareholders and stakeholders participate.
Insurance firm, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc., has given notice of its board of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.
The announcement which was disclosed by Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in a corporate disclosure on July 7th, 2020 and signed by Company Secretary, Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi read, “Notice is hereby given that the twenty-eighth annual general meeting of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc. will hold at the Oriental Hotel, no. 3, Lekki Road, Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.”
READ ALSO: AXA Mansard divests from its pension and real estate ventures
As noted, the purpose of the AGM is to transact the following business:
- To receive the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, and the Reports of the Directors, Auditors and Statutory Audit Committee thereon
- To authorise Directors to fix the remuneration of the Auditors
- To elect Directors and
- To elect members of the Statutory Audit Committee.
In order to ensure that all relevant stakeholders can be a part of the AGM, the company will also be streaming the AGM live. It noted that “This will enable shareholders and other stakeholders who will not be attending physically to follow the proceedings.”
The link for the live streaming of the Meeting will be made available on the Company’s website at www.axamansard.com.
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Recall that a few months ago, in March, the company’s Board of Directors announced the appointment of John Dickson as the company’s new Non-Executive Director. A month earlier, it also disclosed its plan to sell its pension management subsidiary (AXA Mansard Pensions Ltd) and some undisclosed real estate investments.
Its unaudited financials for the period Q1 2020 reveal a growth across revenue and profit lines. Gross written premium grew by 21% from N17.4 billion earned in Q1 2019 to N21 billion in Q1 2020. Profit for the year for the group grew by a commendable 120% from N890 million in Q1 2019 to N1.9 billion in Q1 2020.
As at Tuesday, the 7th of July when markets closed, the share price of the company was N1.59. The company’s EPS stood at 0.33 while its price to book ratio stood at 0.6082.
The board of directors of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has revealed that it will investigate the activities of the suspended Managing Director, 3 Executive Directors, and 8 other senior management staff over financial breaches and gross misconduct.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the board of NSITF, Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire, in a statement in Enugu on Sunday July 5, 2020.
Enajemo-Isire said that the Managing Director and other top management staff of the organization would have the opportunity to clear themselves of any wrongdoing with the probe panel which was being set up.
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While reacting to claims that the suspension did not follow due process as President Muhammadu Buhari did not approve it, Enajemo-Isire said that the approval for the suspension of the affected staff had been conveyed to the Labour Minister in a correspondence referenced SGF. 47/511/T/99 of June 30, 2020.
According to the Chairman, “The minister has conveyed this approval and directives to me for necessary action in terms of setting up a board-driven investigative panel.
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“This is to give the affected officers the opportunity to clear themselves of the financial and procurement breaches and acts of gross misconduct and other infractions that gave rise to their prima facie indictment.
“It is in this light that I have decided to call a virtual meeting of the management board on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, to consider the modalities for our action.”
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He, therefore, appealed to staffers of NSITF and their social partners to keep calm and exercise restraint.
A few days ago, Nairametrics reported the suspension of the Managing Director and some senior management staff over corruption allegations. However, the management in its reaction debunked that claim and said that the President did not approve their suspension but that rather, it was the sole decision of the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, who they said was overreaching himself.
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