Insurance companies’ customers claim N318.2bn in Q4 2022 – NAICOM
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) revealed on Thursday that claims made by the insured on insurance companies totaled N318.2 billion in the last quarter of 2022.
The regulator said that this claim represented a 31.2 percent quarter-on-quarter growth from the previous quarter.
It attributed the growth to rising awareness, market expansion, and consumer confidence.
It stated that net claims paid amounted to N244.3 billion, growing at about 18 percent quarter-on-quarter during the same period.
According to NAICOM, the non-life insurance segment reported that motor insurance led the result of claims settlement vis-a-vis gross claims at 92.3 percent, a nine-point improvement over its previous position.
According to the commission, fire insurance has the lowest proportion at 46.3 percent, the only class with a lower proportion than the average.
Read also: Nigeria has Sanlam’s fastest growing insurance business in Africa; Werth
IPMAN lambast FG over Port Harcourt refinery completion date
Joseph Obele, Chairman of the Independent Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Rivers State, in a statement issued on Thursday, disagreed with the latest pledge made by the minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, over assurances on the completion of the Port Harcourt refinery.
Obele criticized the minister, saying that this latest promise was one too many and that he didn’t see how it would be fulfilled with this administration having less time to do so.
He stated that the Federal Government was not committed to fixing the refineries, and it was a sad development to see that Nigeria was the only member country of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that doesn’t have a functional refinery.
During a recent seminar in Abuja, Sylva stated that the refinery would be ready by the end of the second quarter of this year.
AfDB invests over $5.2bn to support Africa’s water, sanitation
The African Development Bank (AfDB), in a statement made available on its website, said it invested about US$ 5.2 billion in supporting and strengthening water and sanitation resilience for almost 97 million Africans in 10 years.
The regional development bank said it had since 2015 invested an average of US$ 900 million yearly to support water and sanitation.
“It said massive investments in integrated water development and management are central to achieving sustainable water, food, and energy security while assuring green and inclusive growth.
“In 2022, our water and sanitation portfolio of US$ 473 million provided water access to an estimated 6.8 million people and jobs to over 24,000 people in Africa,’’ it said.
According to the statement, the AfDB’s Water Policy is based on the vision of improving Africa’s water security and transforming water assets to foster sustainable, green, and inclusive socioeconomic growth and development.
WHO chief warns against misinformation on global pandemic accord
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against spreading misinformation about the global pandemic accord on social media and in the mainstream media.
According to the UN health agency, social media is spreading information alleging that a new global pandemic accord being negotiated will allow WHO to override national sovereignty relating to a future outbreak.
WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva on Thursday that “the claim that the accord will cede power to WHO is quite simply false. It’s fake news.”
He made it clear that countries themselves would decide the wording and scope of any global agreement on how to tackle the next pandemic.
“No country will cede any sovereignty to WHO,” the director-general said.
News reports have highlighted several instances of online news sources and commentators in recent weeks, falsely claiming that the Biden administration in the United States, was negotiating a deal to allow WHO to “control” emergency laws in the event of another pandemic, such as COVID-19. (NAN)
U.S. Senate panel calls on SVB, Signature Bank ex-CEOs to testify
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday called on the former chief executives of Silicon Vally Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank to testify as lawmakers weigh possible action after the banks’ failures triggered market turmoil.
“You must answer for the bank’s downfall,” the panel’s Democratic chairman and ranking Republican wrote in separate letters to former Silicon Valley Bank Chief Executive Gregory Becker and former Signature Bank CEO Joseph DePaolo.
Senator Sherrod Brown, the panel’s Democratic chairman, and Senator Tim Scott, its top Republican, asked the former bank chiefs to testify at the hearing Tuesday with federal regulators or at a future date.
Representatives for Becker and DePaolo as well as the banks could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Senate panel on Monday announced the first in a series of hearings following the banks’ collapse. The U.S. House of Representatives financial Services Committee is scheduled to hold a separate hearing March 29. (Reuters)
