Economy
NAICOM Disburses Fund for Training of 60 Actuaries
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on Monday disbursed an undisclosed amount to the College of Insurance and Financial Management (CIFM) to train 60 professionals as Actuaries in the industry.
Dr Yeside Oyetayo, Rector CIFM made the disclosure in an interview in Lagos, explained that an actuary is a person who compiles and analyses statistics and uses them to calculate insurance risks and premiums.
Oyetayo said that following the release of the fund, the college had conducted the first scholarship qualification assessment on Dec.
22, and some candidates had been notified of their success.She noted that another qualification assessment had been scheduled to hold on Jan.
29.“The fund disbursed covers registration of 60 candidates, their course materials, tutorials and mock examinations
“Due to the social distancing order induced by COVID-19, we are doing online tutorials in conjunction with Nigerian Society of Actuaries and the first set of scholarship awardees will write the Certified Actuarial Analysts (CAA) exams in May,” she said.
NAICOM had on Jan. 23, 2020 announced full sponsorship of 100 practitioners in the insurance industry to be certified as Actuarial Analysts, toward developing the market in the next five years.
Mr Sunday Thomas, Commissioner for Insurance, said that the initiative was in partnership with CIFM, Nigeria and was aimed at developing necessary professional skills and talents to drive the insurance sector.
Thomas said the move became necessary because only a few insurance companies had in-house actuaries, thus the intervention by the commission to stem the tide.
“Part of our plans is that within the next five years, we want to produce at least 100 CAA and we will take responsibility for the commitment.
“Part of the development is the human capital development, as the growing potential of the industry is built on the capacity to have the required capital that will drive it forward.
“The issue of measuring and taking necessary steps for effective pricing have made the Actuarial profession to be more pertinent than ever.
“There is need to develop young professionals and give them a future in the insurance industry, and we are determined to develop their potential and make them relevant to the sector,” Thomas said. (NAN)
Economy
Investors Gain N183bn on NGX
The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) continued its bullish trend on Wednesday, gaining N183 billion.
Accordingly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N59.532 trillion, gained N184 billion or 0.31 per cent to close at N59.715 trillion.
The All-Share Index also added 0.31 per cent or 303 points, to settle at 98,509.
68, against 98,206. 97 recorded on Tuesday.Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased to 31.
74 per cent.Gains in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, United Bank For Africa(UBA), Oando Plc, Nigerian Breweries among other advanced equities drove the market performance up.
Market breadth closed positive with 34 gainers and 17 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, Africa Prudential, Conoil and RT Briscoe led by 10 per cent each to close at N14.30, N352 and N2.42 per share, respectively.
Golden Guinea Breweries followed by 9.95 per cent to close at N7.18, while NEM Insurance rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N10.70 per share.
On the other hand, Julius Berger led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N155.25, Secure Electronic Technology Plc trailed by 9.52 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Multiverse lost 7.63 per cent to close at N5.45, Haldane McCall dropped 6.07 per cent to close at N4.95 and Honeywell Flour shed 5.62 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 49.44 per cent.
A total of 320.10 million shares valued at N6.48 billion were exchanged in 7,943 deals, compared with 939.41 million shares valued at N12.81billion traded in 9,098 deals posted in the previous session.
Meanwhile, ETranzact led the activity chart in volume with 70.27 million shares, while Aradel led in value of deals worth N1.22 billion.(NAN)
Economy
Yuan Weakens to 7.1870 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the Yuan, weakened 22 pips to 7.1870 against the dollar on Monday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreign exchange market, the Yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the Yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)Economy
Bring Kaduna Refinery Back into Operation, Youth Group Urges NNPCL
Arewa Youths Initiative for Energy Reforms (AYIFER), has urged Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to do everything possible to bring Kaduna Refinery back into operation.
National Coordinator of the group, Mr Bashir Al’Amin, stated this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.
Al’Amin specifically called on the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari, to do all within his powers to rejuvenate the refinery and bring it up to global standard.
He said that having delivered the Port Harcourt refinery, coupled with the establishment of Dangote Refinery in Lagos, attention should be shifted to Kaduna refinery for easy spread of petroleum products.
“We are calling on Malam Mele Kyari to expedite action on Kaduna refinery so we can be at par with other regions in the country.
“We equally beg the NNPCL to do professional work in rehabilitating the old refinery and deliver a standard and functional petrochemical refinery and not a blending plant.
“Kyari should resist any temptation that could make him do something that can jeopardise his good image,” he said.
Al’Amin said that since the extinction of groundnut pyramid and textiles in Kano State as well as PAN in Kaduna State and with the Kaduna refinery getting moribund, a lot of youths had lost their jobs.
According to him, all their hopes in the north are tied to the legacy refinery, expressing the hope that God would use Kyari to deliver it well and on time.
He said that the group was solidly behind NNPCL in prayer and would be ready to celebrate the company if its expectations were met. (NAN)