Lafarge gains N111.1 billion on NSE in 14 trading sessions
CADBURY, GUINNESS plunge amid profit-taking at Nigeria’s stock market
The Nigerian insurance sector; repositioning for efficiency
Buhari orders MDAs to grant FIRS access to their systems
Buhari reappoints Bala Usman as MD of NPA, reconstitutes the Board
Official (NAFEX) Exchange rate hits N415/$1 during Intra-day trading
Malabu Oil Scandal: Prosecutors demand JPMorgan documents
Nigeria records $4.3 billion in Corporate Deals in 2020
CDC Group pledges $1 billion investment in Nigeria and other African countries
Crypto traders suffer heavy losses of $639 million within a day
Business News
Private Sector drives industry growth, as PenCom remits N7.4bn into RSA
@PensionNigeria remitted the sum of N7.42bn into the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) in Q4 2018. Latest report from PenCOm shows that funds were remitted into 966,155 employees of the 2,044 organisations, while the private sector controls the larger proportion of RSA.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) remitted the sum of N7.42 billion into the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The latest PenCOm report shows that RSA funds were remitted into 966,155 employees’ accounts, out of 2,044 organisations. The private sector controls the larger proportion of RSA.
According to the report, PenCom received a total of 3,046 applications for the issuance of Pension Compliance Certificates, out of which 2,044 were approved and issued. 1,002 applications were rejected for failing to meet appropriate requirements.
Meanwhile, the report shows that the cumulative number of applications received during the year was 16,536 out, of which 16,100 were approved and issued certificates while 436 were rejected. PenCom reiterated that it continued to apply various strategies to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act of 2014.
Transfer of NSITF Contributions to RSA – During the quarter under review, the commission received 1,282 applications for transfer of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) applications totalling N56.78m.
NSITF is one of the foremost social insurance organisations in Africa, founded in 1961 as the National Provident Fund with the mandate to protect employees in the Nigerian private sector who were mostly in non-pensionable employment.
PenCom stated that stated that all applications received were processed and transferred to the RSAs of the NSITF members. From inception to December 2018, N19.64 billion had been transferred to the RSAs of 272,463 NSITF contributors.
Payment of Lump sum benefits to NSITF Members – Similarly, the Commission granted approval to Trustfund for the payment of ₦14.34 million to 377 NSITF members. Thus, from November 2006 to 31 December 2018, ₦2.90 billion had been paid as Lump Sum to 35,562 NSITF Members.
Meanwhile, PenCom further reported that during the period under review, 65 batches of applications were received from Trustfund Pensions on behalf of 378 NSITF members for payment of Lump-Sum Grants.
Significant outstanding pension contributions recovered – In the last quarter of 2018, PenCom maintained that the services of Recovery Agents (RAs) for the recovery of outstanding pension contributions and penalty from defaulting employers.
Specifically, the RAs were mandated to review the pension records of the employers assigned by the Commission with a view to recovering outstanding pension contributions with the penalty.
Therefore, for the period under review, the sum of N365.56 million was recovered by the RAs. This brings the total recoveries made by the Agents from the inception of the exercise in 2012 to date to N15.36 billion, representing the principal contribution of N7.87 billion and penalty of N7.49 billion.
“These amounts have since been credited to the respective RSAs of the employee.”
Pension Contribution Refund to Agencies – According to the report, PenCom processed 240 applications for the refund of pension contributions of Military personnel and Other Security Agencies during the year. Hence, the sum of N157.86 million was refunded to the contributors.
Note that a Tripartite Committee for the Winding Down of the Military Refund was set up in October 2018 to review the entire refund process with a view to ensuring the immediate payment of all outstanding requests.
State Governments continue to make progress in Pension Scheme – The commission indicated that State Governments continued to make progress in the level of implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). As at the fourth quarter of 2018, the number of States that have enacted laws on the CPS stood at 27, while eight (8) States were at the bill stage of implementation.
Private Sector is driving growth in Pension industry – Basically, the pension industry recorded a 1.63 percent growth in the scheme membership during the fourth quarter of 2018, moving from 8.34 million contributors at the end of the preceding quarter to 8.47 million.
According to the PenCom report, the growth recorded in the industry membership was driven by the RSA Scheme, which had an increase of 138,236 contributors representing 1.64 percent.
Further breakdown of the RSA registrations indicated a 0.82 percent (29,455) increase in RSA membership from the public sector during the Q4 of 2018 to stand at 3.6m which represented 42.92 percent of the total RSA registrations.
However, the private sector membership increased by 2.32 percent (108,781) in the quarter under review, which brought total registrations from this sector to 4.8 representing 57.08 percent of total RSA membership. This growth can be attributed to the increased level of compliance by the private sector.
[Also Read: Pension contributions from Nigerians under 30 dwindling at an alarming rate]
Worrying trends – Nairametrics had earlier reported that one of the reasons for the nearly 326 fold increase in contributions is due to the increase in employees who now contribute to the scheme. Despite the rise, trends in younger contributors are on the decline.
Basically, the way pensions are designed, the younger your contributors the better the pension funds. In the meantime, with the pressure now on those aged 40 years and above to sustain Nigeria’s pension fund industry, the growth in the pension industry remains lopsided.
Appointments
Buhari reappoints Bala Usman as MD of NPA, reconstitutes the Board
President Buhari has approved the reappointment of Hadiza Bala Usman as the MD of the NPA for another term of 5 years.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the reappointment of Hadiza Bala Usman as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for another term of 5 years.
This follows the expected expiration of the tenure of Usman, who was first appointed as the Managing Director on July 12, 2016.
This disclosure is contained in a series of tweet posts which was issued by the Presidency on its official Twitter handle on Thursday. January 21, 2021.
READ: COVID-19: NPA, NCDC disagree over new cases in Lagos
The Presidency in its statement also announced the approval of the reconstitution of the Non-Executive Board of the NPA, with Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye (representing South-West zone) as Chairman.
The statement from the Presidency partly reads, ‘’President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the re-appointment of Hadiza Bala Usman as Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), for an additional five-year tenure.
‘’Also approved is the reconstitution of the Non-Executive Board of the NPA, with Emmanuel Adesoye (from South-west zone) as Chairman.’’
Other members of the reconstituted Board include Ekenyem Nwafor-Orizu (representing South-east zone), Akinwunmi Ricketts (representing South-south zone), Ghazali Mijinyawa (representing North-East zone), Mustapha Dutse (representing North-West zone), and Abdulwahab Adesina (representing North-Central zone).
READ: Haulage cost increases by more than 50% in a week as Apapa gridlock bites harder
What you should know
- Hadiza Bala Usman was born on January 2, 1976, in Zaria, Kaduna State and has a B.Sc. Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a Post Graduate in Development Studies from University of Leeds, the UK in 2009.
- She worked at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from July 2000 to August 2004 as Enterprise Officer and hired by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from October 2004 to January 2008 as Special Assistant to the Minister on Project Implementation.
- Ms Bala Usman worked, between 2011 and 2015) as Director of Strategy of the Good Governance Group, a non-governmental organisation founded by Kaduna State State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and his friends.
- Ms Bala Usman, one of the founders and conveners of #BringBackOurGirls, a campaign group pushing for the rescue of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, was also a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Anti-Corruption.
- Prior to her appointment as the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, she was the Chief of Staff to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, apposition she was appointed to in 2015.
President @MBuhari has approved the re-appointment of Hadiza Bala Usman as Managing Director @nigerianports, for an additional 5-year tenure.
Also approved is reconstitution of the Non-Executive Board of the NPA, with Mr Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye (South-west zone) as Chairman.
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) January 21, 2021
Coronavirus
Covid-19: Africa records higher death rate than the global rate
Africa’s coronavirus death rate is now higher than the global average according to Africa CDC.
Africa’s coronavirus death rate has been reported to be higher than the global average as the continent struggle with a shortage of oxygen and other resources during this second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The continent’s fatality rate currently stands at 2.5%, which is higher than the global rate of 2.2%, a departure from earlier in the pandemic, when the death rate in Africa was lower than that at the global level.
READ: African Union secures 270 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from drugmakers
According to a report from Reuters, this disclosure was made by the Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), John Nkengasong, on Thursday, January 21, 2021, during a press conference.
While describing the trend as alarming experts, the continent’s CDC boss pointed out that earlier in the pandemic, Africa’s death rate had been below the global average.
READ: FG alerts that Nigerian hospitals are running out of facilities as Covid-19 spreads fast
He said, “The case fatality rate is beginning to be very worrying and concerning for all of us.’’
Nkengasong also said that 21 African countries are now recording Covid-19 death rate of above 3% as the number of countries in the continent with a higher fatality rate than the global average continues to grow.
Some of the countries include Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mali, Sudan and a host of others.
READ: Covid-19: WHO warns the world faces catastrophic moral failure due to vaccine nationalism
What you should know
- Africa has so far recorded 3.3 million cases of the coronavirus infections with 82,000 fatalities as at Thursday.
- These figures represent a small fraction of the global total, but cases have been reported to have increased by 14% each week in the last 1 month.
- According to data from Africa CDC, over the past week, cases decreased by nearly 7% compared to the previous week while deaths increased by 10%.
- The continent reported 207,000 new cases in the past week, with South Africa alone reporting 100,000 of those new cases.
Cryptocurrency
Ex-Real Madrid Striker, David Barral becomes first-ever footballer to be bought with Bitcoin
Former Real Madrid Striker, David Barral has become the first-ever footballer to be bought with Bitcoin.
Former Real Madrid striker, David Barral, makes transfer history as he became the first-ever professional player to be bought solely with virtual currency, Bitcoin.
Spanish third division side, DUX Internacional de Madrid, simply known as Inter Madrid, has officially signed the 37-year-old after teaming up with their new sponsors, Criptan that deals in cryptocurrency, The SUN reports.
Inter Madrid who are part of DUX gaming, eSports club owned by footballers Borja Iglesias and Real Madrid star, Thibaut Courtois, is yet to disclose the total value of the deal.
READ: Football: AC Milan announces loss of €195million
The Segunda Division B club went to Twitter to welcome their new signing and thank their sponsor.
“David Barral new player of DUX Internacional de Madrid, welcome to the infinite club! He becomes the first signing in history in cryptocurrencies. Thanks to Criptan, our new sponsor, for making it possible,” the club tweeted.
The 37-year-old, who made over 50 appearances playing in the Real Madrid reserve side, expressed his delight at his latest move. Barral has also played for Spanish La Liga clubs Sporting Gijon, Levante, and Racing Santander.
“Glad to join the project of @interdemadrid with eager ambition and responsibility to continue competing and achieve important challenges in my sports career,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.
READ: Real Madrid leapfrogs others to emerge the world’s most valuable football club
What you should know
- A similar deal was when a Harunustaspor, Turkish amateur side, paid 0.0524 Bitcoin (£385) plus 2,500 Turkish Lira in cash (£841) for Omer Faruk Kıroğlu in 2018.
- Back in December, Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Russell Okung became the first high-profile athlete in the United States to be paid in bitcoin.
- Similarly, the Mark Cuban-owned Dallas Mavericks became the second NBA franchise to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment for both game tickets and merchandise.
