The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Africa

  • ‘Why service delivery in pension plan is crucial in Africa’

    Service delivery in pension plan will drive growth in the African pension industry, strategy development and implementation expert, Muibat Ijaiya has said.

    Ijaiya who is a partner with Strategy Management Partners, spoke on service delivery in pension plans at a pension forum in Abuja.

    She said customer experience has  direct impact on growth, noting that in a connected digital world, it pays to get the customer experience right.

    According to her, there is need to design a service delivery model and in doing this, it is essential to consider a desired customer experience for  pension participants at each point of interaction.

    She stressed that this include a true combination of a blue-print and best practice, where the administrative and operational essentials linked to the needs of the participants is showcased.

    She said: “Ideas on communications tools and concepts, can be adopted to realise the participants’ best understanding of pensions and control of their financial wellbeing. This would be key components, essential information blocks and new ways of participant’s involvement.

    “On service delivery, a set of integrated activities, processes, procedure, teams and systems among others should be combined to provide services to customers. It is much broader than customer service; which is a component of it. It is also not a one-size fit all.”

    She noted that in designing a service delivery model with customer experience at its heart, the experience must reflect the brand promise consistently.

    “We must develop strong understanding of the different segments of current and potential participants; their needs, limitations, challenges and desired outcomes. Define a service delivery model and structure the interactions. Be clear about the customer experience to be delivered at each stage of pathway, how and by whom.

    “Delivery location should be defined by participants’ needs and not that of the provider. Their role should not be passive. Use appropriate tools & forums to continuously engage, gather feedback and co-create experience solutions that delight.

    “Identify and address the root causes of problems that have high potential to undermine customer experience. Service boundaries will evolve. Periodically review and align the structure, operations, systems, teams and processes that are critical for delivering on the customer experience,” she added.

  • PenCom emerges best performing establishment in Africa

    PenCom emerges best performing establishment in Africa

    The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has emerged the best performing pension institution on governance in Africa.

    The Commission was also awarded the best performed in coverage and social economic impact.

    The award is the maiden edition of the Africa Pensions Awards (APA) presented at the closing ceremony of the World Pension Summit Africa Special in Abuja.

    Present at the event were governors Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom. Also in attendance were senators, members of the diplomatic corps, local and international economic experts, stakeholders across the world in the pension industry.

    In the category of pension coverage, the Kenyan Retirement Benefit Authority was declared winner of the best performed pension institution based on its wide coverage of its informal sector while in the category of Economic Social Impact, the Namibia Financial Institution Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) was adjudged the best based on its innovations in pension regulation, and security markets regulation.

    The Chairman of the African Pension Award Committee, John Ashcroft who announced the winners of the awards said the 2015 African Pension Award was structured into three categories namely governance, pension coverage and social economic impact.

    He explained that the governance category awards was to honour countries which introduced innovations in the legal and institutional frameworks, adopted efficiency in their pension processes, corporate governance structures and service delivery.

    He added that the pension coverage award category was designed to celebrate countries that provided channels for sustainable livelihood like basic needs such as food and shelter for its citizenry, especially during old age.

    He said: “It is also intended to honour countries which have incorporated both the formal and informal sectors of the economy in their pension scheme.

    “The social economic impacts category was designed to evaluate how countries that utilised pension funds under the contributory system, to provide financial intermediation for the real sector and infrastructure development. It is also designed to honour nations whose pension funds impacted their local capital markets and insurance.”

  • Rural inaccessibility to slow down telecoms sector in Africa

    Africa’s fast-growing mobile phone subscription rate is expected to slow sharply in the next five years, a development that has surprised some stakeholders closest to the industry, Reuters reports in eNCA.

    African mobile subscriptions grew 13 per cent from 2010 to 2015, and they’ll continue to grow, but slower — at an expected rate of six per cent from 2015 to 2020 — according to a new report by global industry body Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA). That six-per cent growth will likely add 135 million subscribers, ITNewsAfrica reports.

    The report says the slowdown will be partly due to lack of commercial logic in setting up network coverage in some rural areas, where more than half the population lives, Reuters reports.

    The slowing subscriber growth underscores the existence of significant barriers to the take-up of mobile services, according to ITNewsAfrica. In addition to a lack of business confidence in rural areas, these include cost, coverage, income levels and technical literacy.

    Sub-Saharan Africa bypassed Latin America for unique subscribers in 2014, becoming the world’s third-largest growth region after Asia Pacific and Europe. It now accounts for 10 percent of the global subscriber base, ITNewsAfrica reports.

    It’s not economically viable for mobile phone companies to deploy their networks in some areas — especially remote, rural communities — because of low spending power of people living there, said Mortimer Hope, GSMA’s Africa director.

    “I am bit surprised by this development,” Hope told Reuters. “I expected strong growth to continue because the penetration rate in Africa is still well below 100 percent.”

    Expect more mergers and acquisitions as competition heats up and subscription rates go down in African mobile markets, Hope said.

    “Smaller players don’t have the economies of scale to drive their prices down and compete for long periods, so you’ll probably see some consolidation in the market,” he said.

    Recent M&A activities include United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat selling Zantel, its struggling Tanzanian mobile phone business, to Sweden’s Millicom in June.

    South Africa’s Vodacom bought fixed-line operator Neotel, which struggled to compete against larger rival Telkom.

    By 2020, more than 500 million people — about half the African population — will have subscribed to a mobile service compared with the global average of almost 60 percent, according to the GSMA report.

    Mobile regulators and operators must act to reduce barriers to mobile uptake so the unconnected can get the benefits of mobile.

     

    Between now and 2020, 40 per cent of the new subscribers are expected to come from Ethiopia and Nigeria, two of the most populous countries in the region. Mobile penetration is now 23 per cent in Ethiopia and 31 per cent in Nigeria.

    Other countries expected to have strong subscriber growth include Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.

  • BASF West Africa receives top employer

    BASF West Africa receives top employer

    BASF (Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik) West Africa has been awarded/ certified as the top employer of Nigeria in the Top Employer Institute’s Africa category at a gala ceremony held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, South Africa.

    The annual international research undertaken by the top employers Institute recognises leading employers around the world. It also recognise those that provide excellent employee conditions, nurture and develop talent throughout all levels of the organisation, and which strive to continuously optimise employment practices.

    Since establishing its office in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2012, the global chemical company’s West African presence has made a significant impact in the industry.  But it is for its remarkable employee offerings that BASF West Africa is now being recognised.

    Managing Director, BASF West Africa, Andrew Bailey said this certification serves as confirmation that BASF West Africa operates to global standards both externally and internally.

    ”At BASF we are continuously working to optimise our employee conditions and we strive to recruit, retain and attract the best employees. Our focus is on fostering the individual’s unique talents and meeting that person’s development objectives in the best possible manner, thereby allowing BASF’s corporate objectives to be fulfilled at the same time. Only by fully leveraging the potential of our employees can we meet the constantly changing requirements of our business,” he said.

    Vice President and Head of BASF Business Centre South Africa and sub-Sahara, Joan-Maria Garcia-Girona, said the company has a strong focus on developing its employees.

    He said: “We want to enable employees to strengthen their contribution to the company’s success by having the right people at the right time at the right place. We believe talent is in everyone and we develop all groups of employees throughout all levels to grow within the company.”

     

    Head of Human Resources for BASF in South Africa & sub-Sahara, Prabashnie John, said specific focus is placed on creating a culture of learning and development.  “Under the banner of being the ‘Best Team’, specific focus is placed on ensuring that we have excellent people, excellent leaders and an excellent place to work.  The premise of BASF’sValue Proposition (The Power of Connected minds) encompasses our four Employer Brand Fundamentals:  Connecting, Engaging, Caring and Learning.  Being certified as the Top Employer once again reinforces that we are an industry leader when it comes to our people offerings,” she said.

  • Africa needs N100b for infrastructure, says AfDB

    Africa needs N100b for infrastructure, says AfDB

    Africa needs about N100 billion  yearly to address its infrastructural challenges, the President, African Development Bank  (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has said.

    Adesina, who spoke in Lima, Peru, at a $90 million financing arrangement  for an airport project in Egypt, drawn from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF),  said the amount of resources in Africa to deal with that is about  N50 billion a year. “So there is gap,” he said, adding that  a new Africa Delivery Vehicle called Africa 50 has being inaugurated to help raise funds to close the gap.

    The AfDB chief noted that power was critical to achieving economic growth in the continent, stressing that the absence of power infrastructure would leave the sub-region underdeveloped.

    “There is no way Africa can move to the top of the global economy value chain without power. That is why we have developed a new energy initiative for Africa 2025. Africa is tired of being in the dark and I am optimistic that most of our development challenges would be addressed, if there is sufficient power to run the economies,” Adesina said.

    He added that countries at the peak of the global economic pyramid “are those that are competitive and are at the top of the value chain.”

    The AfDB president said “Africa does not belong to the bottom of this value chain”.

    Adesina stated that it was high time Africa moved to the top of the value chain through the creation of a  more robust and resilient economy.

    “So our role at AfDB and as a bank, is to help Africa add value to every single commodity it is producing, be it cotton, agricultural raw materials, solid minerals, or oil and gas.  We will help Africa to export textiles instead of raw cotton, processed coffee, rather raw coffee and cocoa powder in place of raw cocoa,” he said.

    The $90 million loan is the first  project by AfDB to be financed using the AGTF resources and marks the first publicly-financed transport sector loan in Egypt.

    The project consists of development of new terminal building (financed by Islamic Development Bank), new runway and new control tower.

    Through this project, the Egyptian aviation authorities will be able to raise the passenger handling capacity of the airport by an additional 10 million passengers per year to reach 18 million per annum.

    Adesina said this will further boost Egyptian economy’s competitiveness and increase foreign currency earnings and create hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs for its citizens.

    The Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Sahar Nasr, said the loan would play a crucial role in improving the country’s economic competitiveness, particularly in a period of transition.

    She said the agreement stands as one of the best partnership that the Egyptian government would be having with the Peoples’ Republic of China, pledging her government would do everything at its disposal to ensure its proper implementation.

    China said it was impressed with the project and hoped that the $2 billion fund, the first approved for the Africa Growing Together Fund, will be utilised for the purpose for which it was assigned through massive job creation for the people of Egypt.

     

  • 2015 African player of the Year-Based in Africa: No NPFL player shortlisted

     

    No Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) player was shortlisted for this year’s CAF African player of the Year – Based in Africa.

    This was observed in a release made available to the general public by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) through its official website yesterday.

    CAF released the names of 24 players that have distinguished themselves in the 2014/2015 season and Nigerian names were conspicuously missing.

    Former Enugu Rangers Ejike Uzoenyi was the only Nigerian included in the 20-man list last year.

    The Nigerian clubs poor performances in the season in review may not be unconnected for their none-showing in the list.

    Kano Pillars and Enyimba FC represented Nigeria at the CAF Champions League while Warri Wolves and Dolphins played at the CAF Confederation Cup.

    The four representatives performed poorly in the competition.

    Our two representatives in the CAF Champions League crashed out before the group stages for the second year running.

    Kano Pillars were dumped out 5-2 on aggregate by Moghreb Tetouan of Morocco while Smouha FC of Egypt ended Enyimba’s sojourn with a 2-1 goal aggregate win, having won the second leg 2-0 at home. Enyimba had won the first leg by a lone goal.

    In the Confederation Cup, Dolphins FC were thrown out of this year’s Confederation Cup competition by CAF for failing to arrive on time for the kick-off of first-leg preliminary of their match against Club Africain of Tunisia in Rhades while Warri Wolves Football Club crashed out on a 4-3 goal aggregate to AC Leopard of Congo.

    Nigeria’s only surviving club in continental competitions won the match played in the Warri township stadium, 3-1, but their earlier 3-0 loss in the first leg saw them crashing out of the competition, on 3-4 aggregate.

  • Rural inaccessibility to slow down telecoms sector in Africa

    Africa’s fast-growing mobile phone subscription rate is expected to slow sharply in the next five years, a development that has surprised some stakeholders closest to the industry, Reuters reports in eNCA.

    African mobile subscriptions grew 13 per cent from 2010 to 2015, and they’ll continue to grow, but slower — at an expected rate of six per cent from 2015 to 2020 — according to a new report by global industry body Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA). That six-per cent growth will likely add 135 million subscribers, ITNewsAfrica reports.

    The report says the slowdown will be partly due to lack of commercial logic in setting up network coverage in some rural areas, where more than half the population lives, Reuters reports.

    The slowing subscriber growth underscores the existence of significant barriers to the take-up of mobile services, according to ITNewsAfrica. In addition to a lack of business confidence in rural areas, these include cost, coverage, income levels and technical literacy.

    Sub-Saharan Africa bypassed Latin America for unique subscribers in 2014, becoming the world’s third-largest growth region after Asia Pacific and Europe. It now accounts for 10 percent of the global subscriber base, ITNewsAfrica reports.

    It’s not economically viable for mobile phone companies to deploy their networks in some areas — especially remote, rural communities — because of low spending power of people living there, said Mortimer Hope, GSMA’s Africa director.

    “I am bit surprised by this development,” Hope told Reuters. “I expected strong growth to continue because the penetration rate in Africa is still well below 100 percent.”

    Expect more mergers and acquisitions as competition heats up and subscription rates go down in African mobile markets, Hope said.

    “Smaller players don’t have the economies of scale to drive their prices down and compete for long periods, so you’ll probably see some consolidation in the market,” he said.

    Recent M&A activities include United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat selling Zantel, its struggling Tanzanian mobile phone business, to Sweden’s Millicom in June.

    South Africa’s Vodacom bought fixed-line operator Neotel, which struggled to compete against larger rival Telkom.

    By 2020, more than 500 million people — about half the African population — will have subscribed to a mobile service compared with the global average of almost 60 percent, according to the GSMA report.

    Mobile regulators and operators must act to reduce barriers to mobile uptake so the unconnected can get the benefits of mobile.

     

    Between now and 2020, 40 per cent of the new subscribers are expected to come from Ethiopia and Nigeria, two of the most populous countries in the region. Mobile penetration is now 23 per cent in Ethiopia and 31 per cent in Nigeria.

    Other countries expected to have strong subscriber growth include Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.

  • Starwood increases presence in Africa, Indian Ocean

    Starwood increases presence in Africa, Indian Ocean

    Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has announced expansion in Africa and Indian Ocean , increasing its market penetration across the region. The company has a strong footprint with 34 operating hotels and has another 20 hotels under development.

    With the expansion of its luxury, upper upscale and mid-market brands, Starwood will grow its portfolio by over 50 per cent in the next five years, with more than 50 hotels operating and nine out of its 10 compelling lifestyle brands flying their flag in the region.

    “The momentum of growth we are seeing in Africa today is unprecedented.  It is a reiteration of the trust our owners have in us, the power of our distinct lifestyle brands and the strength of our global distribution and award-winning loyalty programme,” said Michael Wale, President for Starwood, Europe, Africa and Middle East. “Africa is a market with huge potential. With economic growth, a rising middle class and rapid urbanization, the demand for travel and quality lodging will continue to grow and provide us with a significant opportunity to grow our brands and play our part in supporting many emerging markets across the continent.”

    Reaffirming its commitment to growth in the region, the company announced seven new deals, including W Sharm El Sheikh and The Residences at W Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt),Sheraton Bamako (Mali), The Westin Abuja and Residences (Nigeria),Four Points by Sheraton Abuja and Residences (Nigeria),Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport (Kenya), Aloft Dakar (Senegal), and Element Oyster Bay Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). With the new signings, Starwood will further build its position in Nigeria and Egypt, increase its presence in Senegal and enter new markets which include Mali, Kenya and Tanzania.

  • World Bank projects 3.7 per cent growth for Africa

    World Bank projects 3.7 per cent growth for Africa

    The World Bank Group has said African countries would grow at 3.7 per cent rate this year, a margin lower than the 4.6 per cent recorded last year.

    It said the growth rate is the lowest recorded for the continent since 2009, stating that the development is induced by “more challenging economic environment”.

    The report is contained in Africa’s Pulse, the bi-yearly publication of the World Bank, titled – the Challenge of Sustaining Growth amid Weak Global Conditions.

    The 2015 forecast remains below the robust 6.5 per cent growth in GDP, which the region sustained in 2003-2008.

    It said the decline in the growth rate to below the 4.5 per cent in the accompanying years from 2009 through last year, was the result of the global financial crisis within the era, but nevertheless expressed optimism that growth in the region is projected to pick up to 4.4 percent next year, and further strengthen to 4.8 per cent in 2017.

    The report blamed sharp drops in the price of oil and other commodities for  recent weakness in Africa’s economic performance, coupled with China’s economic slowdown, as well as the tightening of the system.    Compounding these factors, are bottlenecks in supplying electricity in many African countries hampered economic growth in 2015.

    World Bank Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, has, however, urged African nations not to bemoan the challenges posed by the end of the commodity super-cycle.

    He said they should latch on the opportunities created by the development by reinvigorating reform efforts to transform their economies and diversify sources of growth.

    He said: “Implementing the right policies to boost agricultural productivity, and reduce electricity costs while expanding access, will improve competitiveness and support the growth of light manufacturing.”

    The report indicated that several countries continue to post robust growth. It added  that several countries, including Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania are expected to sustain growth at around seven percent or more per year between this year and 2017, spurred by investments in energy and transport, consumer spending and investment in the natural resources sector.

    It said considerable  progress is being recorded in reducing income poverty in sub-Saharan Africa at a faster rate than previously thought.

    The World Bank estimates that poverty in Africa declined from 56 per cent in 1990 to 43 per cent in 2012.

    Acting Chief Economist, World Bank Africa and the report’s author, Punam Chuhan-Pole, said: “The dramatic, ongoing drop in commodity prices has put pressure on rising fiscal deficits, adding to the challenge in countries with depleted policy buffers.”

    He said to withstand new shocks, governments in the region should improve the efficiency of public expenditures, such as prioritising key investments, and strengthening tax administration to create fiscal space in budgets.

    The report said growth in sub-Saharan Africa will be repeatedly tested as new shocks occur in the global economic environment, underscoring the need for governments to embark on structural reforms to alleviate domestic impediments to growth.

    It said investments in new energy capacity, attention to drought and its effects on hydropower, reform of state-owned distribution companies, and renewed focus on encouraging private investment will help build resilience in the power sector.

  • Gloria Ibru features Dede Mabiaku in new single, Africa

    Gloria Ibru features Dede Mabiaku in new single, Africa

    Classy singer, Gloria Ibru, who recently clocked 50, is set to release a new single titled Africa. According to information, the new track features Afrobeat singer, Dede Mabiaku.

    The gorgeous mother of one has been an icon in Nigerian music industry, performing live for about 30 years. Though the singer has battled health issues in the recent past, she says that she is not resting on her oars as she brings Dede’s talent to bear in the new single.

    According to Gloria, the song is a fusion of different genres and is a great song that celebrates Africans and our value.

    The Sugar Mama crooner says that the single is one of the songs that will make up her album which will be released in December. The album launch, she also says, will coincide with the launch of her foundation which will cater for victims of spinal cord injury.

    “Recording this song with Dede Mabiaku, my old time friend was a delight. The song titled, Africa is out now and we are shooting the video presently. Africa is part of the songs that will make my album. Sugar Mama was dropped early this year. In my album, I’m bringing a fusion of jazz, highlife, calypso, afro pop and other genres of music together,” Gloria enthused.