Insurers are apprehensive that the industry will suffer significant drop in premium income this year owing to the slowdown in economic activities occasioned by the slide in crude oil prices and Naira depreciation. The growth of economic activities in the country, as measured by the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slowed down to 2.35 per cent in the second quarter from 3.96 per cent in the first quarter.

THE three-day 21st Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, conference has come and gone, with the stakeholders both in private and public sector hoping to see the country realise its potentials within the shortest possible time. However, stakeholders in the private sector have expressed concern over implementation of the far reaching recommendations put before the Federal Government for consideration.

Credit allocation by banks have shown that the bulk of their loans in the past two years went to oil and gas sector to the detriment of other sectors. The sector attracted over 26 per cent of the total bank loans to the economy despite its relative low contribution of about 11.2 per cent to the economy’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, suggesting a crowding out of other productive sectors of the economy. For instance, the agriculture sector which contributed more than 20 per cent to the nation’s GDP last year received only 4.4 per cent of total credit allocation in 2014.

Average yield on treasury bills fell sharply by 42 per cent in nine months from January to September, driven by influence of rising inflation in the pricing of fixed income investments. Afrinvest disclosed this in its weekly update of development in the nation’s financial market. The Company stated, “Analysis of yields in the T-bills and bond market shows that between January and October 2015, average yields have declined from 14.3 per cent and 15.3 per cent to 8.3 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.

Often time people engage in all sort of shady deals and call it business. This should not be, because any act/trade that is not genuine and is to the detriment of others cannot be called a business, especially if it doesn’t fall within the confines of the law or is aimed at getting profit wrongly. Some of these wrong businesses include, money laundering (government officials), abuse of office, stealing, defrauding, internet scam otherwise known as yahoo-yahoo, 419 and a host of others.

In stock exchanges, shares are normally classified by the various economic and industrial sectors in which the companies operate. The classification reflects the general prospects facing operators in particular economic sectors, whether they be good or bad. It does not however reflect some important qualities that bear on returns expectations and risk exposure.

The Division for Social Policy and Development, DSPD of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDESA is committed to the promotion of people’s empowerment and social development globally. This commitment is administered by DSPD as part of its mission to promote more equitable growth in companies, particularly individuals, seeks to identify innovative approaches for poverty reduction, social integration, full employment and decent work for all.

Shareholders of Standard Alliance Plc have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disregard any proposal the company may present from its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the year ended December 31, 2014. The shareholders under the aegis of Esteem Shareholders Association led by Amb Olufemi Timothy said the meeting was rowdy for about three hours and finally ended inconclusively due to disagreement between the company and its shareholders.

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange lost as much as N136 billion of their investment as bears dominated activity for most part of the week. At the end of transactions, the twin market indicators – the market capitalisation and All Share Index (ASI) slipped by 1.3 per cent apiece. Specifically, the market capitalisation of all listed entities dipped by N136 billion to N10.253 trillion from N10.389 trillion, while the ASI dropped by 396.95 basis points to 29,834.21 points from 30,231.16 points.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed concern over prevalence of ineffective shareholders association in the country saying this undermines corporate governance practices in the country. Speaking at the 2015 annual conference on corporate governance and 10th anniversary of Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN), CBN’s Deputy Governor, Financial System Surveillance, Dr. Joseph Nnanna noted that the problem of passive minority and ineffective shareholders association has been one of the challenges affecting the success of corporate governance in Nigeria.