The Nation Newspaper

Category: Business

  • Taxation: FIRS urges staff on manuals

    Taxation: FIRS urges staff on manuals

    The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) yesterday insisted that its must develop the skills of writing standard manuals or circulars.

    The Service also stated that developing these skills will help raise the performance of the staff and that of the Service.

    Speaking at the on-going training for senior staff in Abuja under the theme, ‘Building Capacity for Writing Hands-On Procedure Manual’, the FIRS advocated a winning mentality by staff and urged field officers to raise the bar of their understanding of their responsibilities.

    Speaking on the topic, ‘Writing a Procedure Manuel, FIRS’ Acting Director, Standards and Compliance Group, Mr. Igho Andy Ejemeyovwito, said the agency would no longer accommodate field officers that are not acquainted with the the desired skills and tools for discharging their duties.

    He said the training is packaged to enhance the activities of the staff of the agency.

    He warned that unless the field officers develop the requisite skill in writing Hands-on procedure manuals, the goal of FIRS may be difficult to attain.

    He outlined the ingredients that make for a good manual, urging field officers to always observe salients issues like defining the objective of the manual they want to write, simplify it for better understanding, make it brief and use visual aids.

  • WAGP: Ghana urges Nigeria to fix pipeline

    President John Mahama of Ghana has urged his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, to fix the broken West Africa Pipeline.

    He said this is important to the continued use of Nigerian gas to power electricity generation.

    Mahama spoke yesterday after meeting with President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Ghananian president who was declared winner of last Saturday’s Presidential election, told State House Correspondents that he wants Jonathan to use his influence to get the pipelines back into operation.

    He said:“ I took the opportunity to discuss with him the issue of West Africa Gas Pipeline. As you are aware, it got broken and there was an accident when they were trying to activate it. So, I want President Jonathan to use his influence to get the pipeline back into operation as soon as possible so that Ghana can continue to receive Nigerian gas to power our electricity generation.”

    President Mahama who said he was on his way to Equatorial Guinea for the African, Carrabian and Pacific Group of States conference also said the short meeting discussed the relationship between the two countries.

    “This has been a very short visit. I am on my way to Equatorial Guinea for the ACP African, Carrabian and Pacific Group of states cuonference that is taking place there.

  • NIMASA detains ship, crew over cooked diesel

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has arrested a service cargo vessel, the MV Arti, laden with over 80,000 litres of automotive gas oil (AGO or diesel) suspected to have been cooked, rather than refined.

    The Commander, Maritime Guard Command, Navy Capt. Promise Dappa, who stated this in Lagos yesterday, said the issue of oil theft would soon become a thing of the past.

    He said the ship was arrested at the Bakare Jetty, Kirikiri water front in Apapa, with two crew members, as they supervised the discharge of the diesel into trucks, perhaps, for onward movement to petrol stations.

    “Other crew members and operators of the receiving trucks had disappeared from the loading point on sighting officers of the Maritime Guard command”, the Navy Captain indicated.

  • Operators urge NAICOM to change tactics

    Operators urge NAICOM to change tactics

    Operators are not excited with the way the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is regulating the sector.

    They want the commission to develop what they call practical strategies for taking insurance to greater heights and talk less.

    Though they said operators say the leadership has tried, they believe more could still be done to deepen the penetration of insurance in the country.

    Managing Director, Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited, Yemi Soladoye, told The Nation, that it was necessary for the Commission to concentrate on how the industry could move forward.

    He said: “NAICOM having pushed all these reforms and sanctions to the market, in the last three years, should concentrate on how the industry can get quantitative results from all the good things they have done.

    “As they have brought in Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI), they need insurance education and enlightenment to get the result and should now begin to look at it in quantitative terms. If they would need to help insurers on skill development they should do that. If they would help them even on product development, they should do that. If they need to assist them in providing training, they should do that, for there is huge man power shortage in the agency system. Not many people know how to run agency, so many of them do not have experience, so, if NAICOM is to help them on retail market, it will be okay.

    “If they would help them on payment system, especially mobile payment, they should also do that. So, that at the end of the day, NAICOM would concentrate on things that would bring about huge volume of premium.”

    Meanwhile, the NAICOM has lifted the suspension placed on the Akure-based insurance brokers, Prime Investment Insurance Brokers Limited.

    In a statement NAICOM’s Assistant Director Corporate Affairs, Lucky Fiakpa, said the lifting of the suspension is sequel to the satisfactory conduct of the broker during the period it was sanctioned and that the company has purged itself of the infractions that necessitated its hammer.

    The company was suspended on June 14, 2012 for not handling the Ondo State Government property insurance account properly.

    The Commission, however, advised that the company to “henceforth conduct its business in line with good corporate governance and market practices.”

  • ‘Access to loanable funds, challenge to courier industry’

    ‘Access to loanable funds, challenge to courier industry’

    Preference of banks and other financial institutions to advance loan facilities to big companies at the detriment of small and medium scale enterprises in the size of indigenous courier industry has been identified as one major challenge that has stifled the growth and development of the indigenous sub-sector of the industry.

    Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bowill Errands Limited, Mr Siyanbola Oladapo, said if the courier sector is well harnessed and allowed to operate, it would not only boost the economy by growing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it would provide employment for the growing army of the unemployed youths.

    Oladapo said: “Accessing finance through banks is a major challenge, especially now that the banks are also struggling to keep afloat. Their assistance to small and medium scale enterprises even before economic meltdown was nothing to make business grow. Their focus was always the mega business for mega profit which has now resulted in mega collapse.

    “They were not ready to play their roles in stimulating the economy. Bank loan to small companies then was frustrating. All these factors actually affect us, unlike in advanced countries where banks will like to see your accounts and offer you facilities that will help your business to grow.”

    He lamented that, over the years, the industry has been dominated by multinationals, a development that had stunted the growth of the sector.

    He said the enormous potential in the industry have not been fully tapped despite the huge market available in the country.

    “The problem with Nigeria is infrastructural problem. We face the challenges of bad roads and multiplicity of taxes,” he said.

    Oladapo said with these challenges, there is a limit to what anybody can do, adding that government is also not helping matters.

    His words: “The overzealous local government officials impound our dispatch motorcycles for non existent offences at will, thereby causing delays in our operations.”

    Oladapo said most government policies strangulate investment, adding that some government policies are designed only for the purposes of generating revenue while government agencies are preoccupied with meeting their revenue target irrespective of the implication on the business community. This, he said, has led to companies shutting down their operation and relocating to neighbouring countries at the detriment of Nigeria.

    “Policy reversals do not give room for long term planning. It is an unfortunate situation where the Lagos State government needs to strike a balance between security/safety of inhabitants of people in the state and business development,” he said.

  • Mansdard, Custodian get ‘B’ rating

    Mansdard, Custodian get ‘B’ rating

    An international rating organisation, A.M. Best, Europe Rating Services Limited, has given B’ rating to Mansard Insurance Plc and Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc.

    They made the list of the agency and were affirmed to have the financial strength rating of ‘B’ (Fair) and issuer credit rating of ‘BB+’, with stable outlooks.

    The ratings of Mansard reflect its “strong risk-adjusted capitalisation, good business profile and strong underwriting performance,” said Best.

    As an offsetting factor Best cited “Mansard’s investment strategy, which has a significant concentration on both land and property under development asset;”adding that it recognises the efforts made by the company to reduce the property exposure.

    The ratings also incorporate Best’s view of the company’s “exposure to the very high political and financial system risks associated with its operation in Nigeria.”

    On Mansard’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, Best noted that it is “strongly supported by a large capital base, and although it is expected to slightly decrease going forward, it will remain supportive of the company’s ratings. Mansard paid dividends of N 900 million ($4.4 million) in 2011 equating to a dividend pay ratio of 96.6 per cent, and in Best’s opinion, this could negatively impact the company’s capitalisation growth.

  • OPEC meets to decide oil output targets, new head

    THE Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countrie (OPEC) is holding in Vienna this week a ministerial meeting to decide on the cartel’s oil production ceiling, as a predicted drop in demand risks weighing on high crude prices despite Middle East unrest.

    OPEC, which pumps out 35 per cent of the world’s oil, may also finally decide on a new head after a vote to appoint a successor to OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri was postponed in June.

    The 12-nation cartel, which includes the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and Iran – currently under an oil embargo – was to hold a regular output meeting at OPEC’s headquarters in the Austrian capital on Wednesday.

    “OPEC’s official production target is unlikely to change at the December meeting,” noted Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics research group.

    “Nevertheless, there is likely to be a heated debate over who will be OPEC’s next Secretary-General,” he said

    At its last meeting in June, OPEC opted to keep its oil output ceiling at 30 million barrels per day (mbpd) – after agreeing on the level a year ago – and vowed to eliminate over-production.

    But the International Energy Agency watchdog said OPEC has failed to rein in excess supplies, estimating that it had pumped 31.16 mbpd in October despite a sharp drop in output by Iran, which has been under a Western ban of its oil exports since July over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear programme.

    Despite the over-production caused largely by Saudi Arabia, “no change to production policy is likely in view of the high prices,” said Commerzbank commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch.

    Benchmark Brent crude oil futures have traded around $110 a barrel over the past six weeks, above the $100-level deemed acceptable by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.

    The Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) warned that member countries would however “need to be vigilant in the coming months and to act swiftly in response to a weakening market, if they wish to prevent oil prices from falling much below their unofficial $100 per barrel target.”

    Despite geopolitical tensions across the oil-rich Middle East, amid also violence in Syria and recent Israel-Gaza unrest, analysts said prices could drop in 2013 should Western economic recovery falter.

    “The important thing is the outlook and most analysts expect OPEC to cut its production” next year because of weak demand growth, CGES analyst Manouchehr Takin told AFP.

  • Visa forecasts growth in Africa

    Fundamo, a Visa Incorporated company and the world’s largest specialist mobile financial service provider, has reported growth of mobile financial services in Africa.

    In a statement, the firm said it has launched three new services – FirstMonie with First Bank Nigeria and Celpay, with Celpay International in Uganda and Zimbabwe. “Earlier this year the industry celebrated a decade of banking the unbanked. The market has transformed since we launched the world’s first mobile financial service in a developing economy with Celpay in Zambia. Mobile money providers are rapidly diversifying and consumers are demanding access to more sophisticated services,” Chief Executive Officer, Fundamo, Hannes van Rensburg in a statement.

    “The launch of the services by Celpay International and First Bank Nigeria highlights the growing number of service providers competing to meet consumer demand in Africa. A great deal of credit must go to governments across Africa which are driving the principles of financial inclusion and creating regulatory environments in which services like these can flourish as part of grander ‘cashless society’ plans.

    “We expect to see a host of exciting government schemes gain ground in the next year,” said van Rensburg.

    In Nigeria, it said mobile financial services market is set for phenomenal growth as only 38 per cent of the country’s 160 million people have access to formal financial services.

    Meanwhile, there are over 93 million mobile phone subscriptions in the country, the most in Africa.

    “The majority of consumers surveyed in Nigeria intend to use mobile money to save money for their family (59 per cent) and pay utility bills (58 per cent), the firm said.

    To meet this demand, FirstMonie offers consumers a host of advanced services, including utility payments for airline tickets, electric, insurance, cash withdrawal from an Automated Teller Machine without a bank card, and payment for goods at merchant locations,” he said.

  • Fraudsters will destroy insurance, says Commissioner

    To win the confidence of people, charlatans and fraudsters must be shown the way out of insurance, the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, has said.

    Speaking at this year’s graduation of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Mrs Oladunjoye said the world is threatened by environmental risks, terrorism and civil unrest. These, she said, called for greater protection from insurance covers and the need to educating the citizens about insurance.

    She observed that some insurance practitioners were involved in activities that could dent the image of the industry, urging the institute to take steps to stem the ugly trend.

    Mrs Oladunjoye promised to help create the enabling environment for the business to thrive in the state.

    Meanwhile, CIIN has warned school certificate holders that they might be sanctioned if found guilty of unethical practices.

    Its President, Dr Wole Adetimehin, said the institute could withdraw its certificate from any holder, if it discovered any breach of examination.

    He said: “Permit me to reiterate the policy of Council regarding certificates issued by the institute as the institute’s property, which could be withdrawn from the holders if the institute has good reasons to do so.

    “Let me state categorically that the institute reserves the right to withdraw its certificate from any holder, if it discovers any breach of the examination process. A further reason for such withdrawal of certificates may emanate from acts unbecoming of a holder of the institute’s professional qualification.”

    He noted that the institute would strengthen its examination system through regular reviews of the syllabus and examination structure, stressing that it is conscious of the industry post-consolidation challenges, which came with new and complex human capital needs.

    “The challenges facing the industry not only requires a fresh impetus in human capital development, but also a renewed vigour and approach to skills recreation to equip practitioners for the huge tasks of managing the realities in the business landscape,” he said.

    He noted that the attainment of professional qualification should not be seen as an end in itself, but as a means to an end. Therefore, it behooves holders of professional qualifications to be mindful of the efficacy of Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

    “As you are aware, the CPD has become institutionalised with varying degrees of enforcement by most professions. In our own case, it engenders a scheme which requires members to locate themselves in the point scoring index, hence it is referred to by our institute as the Mandatory Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) programme,” he added.

    He said no professional should exempt himself from the scheme under any guise.

  • Flood: Farmers to get lifeline from NAIC

    The Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) has assured farmers whose farmlands were destroyed by the recent flood that they would be compensated.

    In a statement, NAIC’s new Acting Managing Director, Dr Tijani Garuba, called on the staff of the firm to chart a new course to reposition the agency in the face of increasing competition and challenges in the market place.

    He assured NAIC’s clients of improved service delivery.

    While sympathising with the victims of the flood, Garuba advised farmers to take advantage of NAIC’s services to mitigate the floods, drought and crop failures that had become prevalent in the country.

    He also said the Federal Government established NAIC to provide succour and extension services to farmers who insured with the corporation to be paid adequate claims.