INSURANCE firms have expressed apathy to underwriting oil and gas risks thus undermining efforts by  National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, to ensure that local capacity is exhausted before oil and gas risks are taken abroad.

ECOBANK Nigeria has unveiled a world class Lounge in Port Harcourt for its Premier Banking customers in the South South Region of the country.

significant impact on the bottom-line.MANAGING Director and Chief Executive of Sterling Bank, Mr. Yemi Adeola, has said that the cost of constructing the bank’s new head office annex will not have significant impact on the bottom-line.He stated this while inspecting the head office annex, in company of the bank’s chairman, Mr. Asue Ighodalo.Adeola said despite the significant amount spent on the construction of the annex, the impact on the bottom-line would be less when it is amortized over time.

AS the federal government continues to grapple with means of settling its huge pension deficit, an additional N20 billion liability would be added to the stack upon passage of the bill for the exemption of the Police and other paramilitary agencies from the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.

Mr. David Olofu is the Benue State Commissioner of Finance. In this interview with PETER DURU in Makurdi, he spoke on how the State is keying into the exportation drive of the Federal Government, the inability of the government to pay the wages of civil servants, the construction of a cargo airport in the State, the IGR of the State and several other nagging economic issues. Excerpt:

Like a farmer with precious seeds to sow in due season drawn back by a gloomy sky growling with fits and fury, and his steps viciously altered by a heartless quicksand drifting with darts and hailstones, famine is likely the harvest of such a terrain.

AB Microfinance Bank (MfB) has expanded its branch network by opening four branches in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos states.

When governments don’t maintain and sustain their policies, it is a thing of displeasure and it affects confidence in the market and even in the government itself. You see, when an investor doesn’t trust government’s policies, he may be reluctant to invest in that environment.

Block-chain is an emerging innovation which is gaining  traction in the    payment system,    banking and so many areas. The most prominent innovation on top of block-chain so far is Bitcoin which people see as an alternative form or alternative currency that we all use. And it is beginning to gain so much ground across the world. How will it affect payment? Obviously, some people are already using it to make payment. Largely the technology offers efficiency which means it is going to reduce cost of transaction,    as a result of that you will see it that people are beginning to think that this will be a silver bullet for solving financial exclusion. 

TIER 2 banks suffered N233 billion TIER 2 banks suffered N233 billion  decline in deposit in the first half of the year (H1 2017) owing to demand for higher deposit rate by customers. Banks’ customers were said to be pressurizing for higher deposit rate against the backdrop of the high interest rate regime created by the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its quest to curb inflation and reduce demand for foreign exchange.

THE interbank money market THE interbank money market  will, this week, receive boost of N230 billion inflow, with moderation in cost of funds.  Last week, the interbank money market experienced severe scarcity of funds occasioned by liquidity outflow for dollar purchase, treasury bills (TBs) investment and liquidity mop up by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).  In addition to the regular TBs offered at the primary market, the CBN issued secondary market (open market operations, OMO) TBs to mop up N26 billion during the week, which sent short term cost of funds above 100 per cent.

When you summarise the oil and gas industry, you can see that majority of them did not disappoint the market

The volume of completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global insurance industry continued dropping during the first six months of 2017 to 170 deals, compared to 186 deals reported for the second half of 2016.

THE informal sector of the Nigerian economy comprising of people at the bottom of the pyramid are the biggest tax evaders. 

With the huge potential of the insurance industry to positively impact our economy by safeguarding the enormous risks within the entire business ecosystem, and by creating wealth through investments, the industry is still way behind other financial and service sectors, contributing about 0.3 per cent to the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Leadway Assurance is committed towards educating and increasing the awareness of risks to which people and businesses are exposed and bringing insurance closer to customers as a way of managing those risks and protecting themselves against possible negative financial outcomes.