The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are exploring means to harness and turn the potentials of the insurance industry into economic growth for the country.

In a quest to reduce poverty in the economy, the Federal Government is putting finishing touches on the insurance industry bill for onward transmission to the National Assembly.

The 2012 annual report and accounts of Access Bank Plc show that the merger of Intercontinental Bank Plc with Access Bank Plc was completed during 2012. The process of acquisition of Intercontinental Bank Plc started in 2011 when Project Star Investment Limited, acting for Access Bank Plc, invested N50 billion in Intercontinental Bank Plc as 75% of the share capital of Intercontinental Bank Plc.

LAW Union & Rock Insurance Plc has said it is improving household insurance with COMPAC insurance policy to give more protection to buildings and occupants.

The Bank of Industry, BoI, said it has disbursed not less than N56.48 billion out of a total of N100 billion mapped out by the Federal Government as Cotton, Textiles and Garmenting Revival Fund to-date.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are organizsing a Nigerian Bond Market Conference on Wednesday 7th August 2013 in Lagos. The event is coming at a time of increasing realisation by the international investor community of the immense potential that the Nigerian bond market offers following a series of reforms and initiatives aimed at enhancing the regulatory framework and increasing market depth and liquidity. “This conference provides our market a unique opportunity to leverage the IFC’s wealth of experience in both developed and developing markets to boost capacity while highlighting some of our key achievements and challenges within the last few years.”

The sum of $143.5 billion was the total financial flow to the federation and other government entities from 2009 to 2011, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, report assessing and reconciling financial flows within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry stated.

SINCE November 2012, the Federal Government and electricity workers reached agreement on major labour issues regarding power sector privatization, yet these are not implemented. In this interview, the General Secretary of National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Mr.Joe Ajaero, gives insights into the situation from the labour’s perspective. Excerpts:

Pan Ocean Oil Corporation, an indigenous independent oil company said it lost more than $4.96 billion to crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in its area of operation in four years.

The first thing cooperative societies do to individual members is development of savings culture. It is an age long established fact that nobody can escape poverty without a savings habit. Anybody that spends everything on consumption is just a step away from poverty and its various consequences, no matter how rich the person is today. The story of the prodigal son is instructive in this regard.

The delay in approval of the draft rules for the implementation of the Investors Protection Fund (IPF) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been a stumbling block to compensation of investors, who fell victim of unscrupulous dealings by some registered stockbrokers.

Please I need to know what to do concerning my late mother’s shares in UACN. Since she passed on, there has been no follow up. Please what is the procedure and how do we ascertain the exact amount of shares she has. Thank you (Mrs. J. Obi)

Among the top ten performing stocks last week were Courteville Business Solution, Champion Breweries Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holding Plc, UBA Capital Plc and Fidson Healthcare plc.

At the opening of Financial Bids for Kaduna Distribution Company (DISCO) and Afam Generation Company (Genco) which held on July 31, 2013 in Abuja, Northwest Power Ltd had the highest Aggregate Technical Commercial and Collection Loss reduction (AT&C) of 29.26 % with respect to Kaduna Disco while Taleveras Group emerged the preferred bidder for Afam Genco with an offer price of $260,050,000.

…Customers seek greater awareness
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the revelation by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, of the increasing value of dud cheques issued in Nigeria, which is now over N166 billion. A bounced or dud cheque is an instruction in writing, authorising a bank to make payment against an unfunded or inadequately funded account.