Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) has restated its corporate commitment to the Nigerian market despite the challenges of the operating environment.

An official statement by Africa Re states:

Nigeria, where Africa Re is headquartered since 1976, represents an important market for the Corporation as it represents about 13% of its total turnover in 2016. In Nigeria, the biggest market in the West African region, Africa Re enjoys about 20% of the reinsurance market share.

Other Nigerian local reinsurers write about 15% market share, while foreign reinsurers have on the average about 65% market share. The predominance of foreign reinsurers, mostly European, in the Nigerian reinsurance market has to do with the total low underwriting capacity (and shareholders’ funds) compared to the size of total risk exposures.

Standing with Nigerian insurers, the Corporation has developed diverse partnerships to support the market development, for example in the mitigation of the forex risk. Unlike the foreign reinsurers, Africa Re accepts payment of reinsurance premiums in Nigerian bank accounts and in the national currency (Naira).

To support Nigerian economy, Africa Re has also invested over US$ 90 million in various Nigerian companies and indirectly created over 570 jobs.

Besides its involvement in the development of the insurance industry through in-house and market insurance trainings, Africa Re is also working with the National Insurance Commission of Nigeria to enhance public awareness of insurance products in order to boost insurance penetration in the country. 

Through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Trust Fund, Africa Re’s shareholders have sponsored in the last three years up to US$ 1,252,000 in various CSR initiatives.

Over the years, Africa Re has been involved in capacity building in the African insurance industry with the view of developing the market. In 2015, it invested US$ 380,000 to train over 1300 insurance professionals in over 100 companies. The Corporation has also instituted performance awards aimed at enhancing corporate governance, innovation and operational best standards for the insurance industry from which many African insurance professionals have benefited tremendously.

Admittedly, the Corporation’s enviable financial and operational success has enabled it to take on certain obligations to the benefit of its various stakeholders including the insurance industry, shareholders, member States and even the communities in which it operates. These obligations have been discharged most credibly and faithfully in line with the ideals of the Corporation’s developmental mission.

The main purpose for the establishment of the Corporation in 1976, was to prevent capital flight from the African continent, a practice which was massively prevalent in the 1960s & 1970s and which still persists nowadays, though in a reduced way. In addition, Africa Re’s mission includes the development of the insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa, promoting the growth of underwriting and retention capacities across the continent, and supporting African economic development. The pursuit of this mission has been the sole focus of the Board of Directors, Management and staff of the Corporation over the years.

From the onset, Africa Re’s mission in Africa is unique in that it sets itself apart from the rest of the industry and clearly defines its responsibilities vis-à-vis the development of the African continent. The corporate mission also informs its legal status and shareholding size and structure which includes the founding 41 African states. As a result, the Corporation enjoys a large acceptance across the continent and this has allowed it to concentrate up to 28% of the total African shareholders’ funds in 2015, an indication of its weight in the total African underwriting capacity. Without that capacity, given the relatively undercapitalization of African reinsurers (average solvency of 85% in 2015), more reinsurance premiums will leave the continent to overseas reinsurers.  

Africa Re believed in the continent before anyone else and it demonstrated that by opening offices and subsidiaries, today at the number of 8, long before the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative started recently. After more than four decades of determination and focus, Africa Re is now the leading African reinsurer on the continent. 

Of the Corporation’s gross turnover which exceeded US$ 642 million in 2016, only 9.5% of this income is from mandatory cessions (in 41 member countries) of 5% on treaty business, the bulk coming from North Africa. This attests to the fact that the Corporation’s income is obtained on a voluntary, competitive and value-for-money basis.

The choice of Africa Re as a preferential partner in the continent is guided by the Corporation’s performance attested by its financial strength rating, excellent technical performance, proximity to clients, competitive pricing and technical assistance. Simply put, the Corporation has been a commercial success celebrated by African and international analysts.

Inspen Media has launched a pidgin programme on radio, which is aimed at deepening pension awareness in the country.

A statement by its Chief Executive Officer, Chuks Udo Okonta, said the programme tagged: Retirement Mata, which is billed to commence Friday, April 7, 2017, will be aired on NAIJA FM 102.7 on Fridays from 5:00 – 5:30 PM. He added that the 30-minute live programme will focus on how to leverage the pension system to secure fulfilled retirement lifestyle.

He noted that the programme will be promoted through interviews with pension and insurance operators, regulators, workers and retirees, stressing that there will also be news updates and response to feedbacks from the public, which will be obtained through social media handles and live calls.

Okonta expressed optimism that the programme will help to address the issue of low awareness on the operation of pension operators and also provide an avenue for the public to interact with regulators and operators, thereby increasing the knowledge base of the public.

According to him, the programme, which is centered on lifestyle, was designed to reach out to people at the echelon and grassroots and provide opportunities for them to express themselves and proffer ways to improve the pension system.

He noted that robust awareness creation remains the best way to deepen the pension sector, stressing that the recent moves to integrate the over 50 million workers in the informal sector into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) using the Micro Pension initiative, could only be achieved through co-ordinated awareness campaign.

“The introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has really transformed Nigerian pension system. With over N6 trillion so far pooled from about seven million workers and efforts by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) to integrate about 90 per cent of the working population in the country that are yet to be enlisted into the scheme, coupled with recent moves to bring in  over 50 million workers in the informal sector into the CPS using the Micro Pension initiative, the need for intense and robust awareness creation remains very necessary,” he said.

One of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous courier and logistics company, Red Star Express Plc has assured its clients and customers nationwide that the closure of the Abuja Airport will not affect its business.

Abuja is a major destination for all courier business.

Most packages emanate from Lagos and other economic cities such as Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan for next day delivery to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while others transit through Abuja to core northern states. The FCT also generates a lot of traffic in terms of shipments going to other regions which makes the Abuja Airport very vital for smooth operations in the courier industry.

In an interview with the Assistant General Manager (AGM) Operations and Services, Mrs. Inemesit James-Okoro, she stated that Red Star Express has in place, modalities that ensure prompt deliveries of client’s packages anywhere in major cities across the country. She explained that apart from the option of land transportation, there are other air services to neighbouring cities around the FCT to facilitate early morning deliveries.

“We are out to provide Speed, reliability and ‘peace of mind’ for customers shipping in and out of the FCT during the closure of Abuja Airport as announced by the Federal Government” she stated.

Red Star Express Group is a premium logistics solution provider in Nigeria with an unrivalled local network coverage and a large market share in the domestic and international market. It enjoys a domestic strength of over 240 offices in Nigeria, delivers to additional 1,800 communities, with over 2,400 highly trained personnel and over 600 delivery vehicles in its fleet.

The company has four business units including The Red Star Express which is a licensee of FedEx, the world’s largest express transportation company with over 650 aircrafts and more than 250 delivery destinations globally.

FedEx has consistently been rated among the top 10 most admired companies in the world over the past 10 years. Red Star Express has four subsidiaries – Red Star Freight, Red Star Logistics and Red Star Support Services.