Time changes rapidly as global levels have taken up a paramount air for Internet accessibility. This appears to be the mind language of every busy lad on the street.
The sudden grasp and emergence of GSM in Nigeria in the last decade can be described as a cycle for speed communication that has enhanced business friendliness, family ties, trade alliances and social networking.
In recent times, Internet accessibility has placed customers ringing finger tips on pings, ranging from soft touch on torch screens, ipads and galaxy devices to a ladder of browsing channels. The global forum for reaching out to the world has yielded a faster co-existence in uniformity for all categories.
The blueprint version of cash has slowly diced out slices of proportional value added services reaching out to the world instantly and at any given time. The household name for chatting, messaging and social networking has paged a standard for all ages; technology has now been immensely drawn to a huge advantage on the world market.
The cross sector of customers that storm various mobile top shops and telecom service centres on daily basis on huge demand for one innovative device or additional value for Internet service has grown on the increase while the climax of these are far more insatiable for customers than the inventors.
Internet Addiction
Rebirth of the Insurance Agent
With great confidence and applause from other insurance agents across Nigeria, Demola stepped on to the stage loaded with insurance industry leaders to receive the award for the Best Insurance Agency in Nigeria for the second consecutive year!
He simply thanked his company, Mutual Benefits Assurance, his colleagues and, most of all, ARIAN for giving out the Award, thus symbolising the new life of the Insurance Agent in Nigeria.
Since the disappearance of insurance agents with their Vespa motorcycles and the future of many Nigerians, there has not been any strategic and deliberate action to redeem the pride of the Insurance Agent like ARIAN has been doing in the last couple of years.
The Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) led by Mr. Kingsley Obuvie of Leadway Assurance has not only revived the professional body of insurance agents but has sought to make its members enjoy the recognition and reward they need to stay on.
Interestingly, insurance business was introduced into Nigeria by 1900 when the Bank of British West Africa (BBWA which later became First Bank of Nigeria) was appointed as an agent of Royal Exchange Assurance of the United Kingdom in Lagos.
Several years later, the agencies had become the responsibilities of frontline Nigerians who were given the power of attorney by foreign insurers to act on their behalf, thus initiating the Nigerianisation of those insurance companies which still thrive today!
Can I get away with posting an impression that the insurance agents have been in the forefront of insurance development and indeed the Nigerian economy? May be! This is because many well established and renowned Nigerian business moguls, who started as traders and merchants, have some insurance agency experience in them. Surprised! It is an amazing story for another day
Today, as ARIAN celebrates its third National Awards, Obuvie has emphasized that his mission is to ensure that Nigerians will no longer be cheated by agents and agents will not be maligned by other people, hinged on the fact that every person interested in insurance agency is required to be a registered and financial member of ARIAN. With its code of professional conduct and continuous training, he believes that the confidence of the public in relating with insurance agents has been awakened.
ARIAN relies on the direction of the evolution of Nigeria’s insurance industry to drive its membership with strong hope that the future provides greater opportunity for insurance agents. The impact of the Awards given to different categories including the Best Insurance Agent, Best Insurance Agency, Insurer with strongest agency force, Outstanding Insurance CEOs and Lifetime Achievement have already been well received by many insurance companies. Even insurance companies in General Business Only are working with ARIAN to activate their insurance agencies for more business generation.
It is expected that all stakeholders, especially policyholders will be interested in knowing whether an insurance agent is a member of ARIAN before dealing with them to ensure that any issue that may affect the relationship can be addressed.
Of course, with the support ARIAN enjoys from Mr. Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the rebirth of the Insurance Agent in Nigeria is only necessary if insurance penetration must deepen.
Let’s congratulate ARIAN as they celebrate their performances three years running!
Acknowledgements: A Century of Insurance in Nigeria by Nigerian Insurers Association
The CEO as No 1 Brand Icon
An organisation’s corporate image is the picture that forms in the mind of the average person any time the name of the organisation is mentioned. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is one of the many variables that constitute that image. This explains why the image of the organisation often revolves around the CEO. In other words, the chief helmsman has the capability of either enhancing or ruining the organisation’s corporate image. This is so because the image of the organisation is always seen through him.
The extraordinary importance attached to the office of the CEO must be viewed against the background of the fact that consideration for appointment into that office goes beyond academic and professional qualifications. It is taken for granted that whoever occupies the office of the CEO must be academically and professionally qualified. Of equal importance, if not of more importance, is the character of the person occupying that office.
Perhaps, above every other consideration, the CEO must be an embodiment of integrity. He is constantly under severe scrutiny, especially outside the walls of the organisation. What he does, even within the confines of his house, could rub off positively or negatively on the image of the organisation that he heads. Any act of his that puts a question mark on his integrity automatically affects, in a negative way, the image of the organisation.
There are other considerations. How is he perceived by the organisation’s different publics? How does he relate with superiors and subordinates? How does he speak and laugh? What is his dress sense?
We have seen cases involving CEOs that were hitherto celebrated as success stories, but who ended up dragging their companies’ into the mud on account of their integrity deficiency.
A case in point was the unprecedented crash of the stocks of the former Lever Brothers in the early 2000 following allegations that the company had been doctoring its books under the supervision of the late Rufus Giwa, who had just left office as CEO. A similar allegation occurred at Cadbury under Bunmi Oni, a man who was then touted as one of the most promising managers the country could boast of.
Festus Odimegwu’s problem with Nigerian Breweries had nothing to do with integrity. If anything, Odimegwu, a first class honours graduate of Chemistry, was one of the best managers of his time, with impeccable character and integrity that was beyond doubt. He became a brand eroder for the Star brand when he allegedly got involved in the infamous Third Term project of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, a project that was quite unpopular with Nigerians. Heineken, the parent company of Nigerian Breweries, had to choose between him and the company.
It is not in all cases that the CEO’s problems with the company border on integrity, as in the first two cases cited above, or indiscretion, as in the case involving Odimegwu. A seemingly inconsequential issue like his social life; what he does outside official hours in such places as the club house, church, private party, etc, are of importance to the organisation. A little slip or a brief moment of indiscretion is enough to send him crashing to the floor and taking the company along. Cases abound all over the world of CEOs whose love life damaged their organisation’s image.
In the early 1990s, Jimmy Swaggard, a popular American televangelist, fell from grace to grass because of his romantic involvement with church secretary, Jessica Han. His crash led to the near disintegration of Praise The Lord Ministry. A most recent and perhaps the most celebrated of such cases was the one involving Dominique Straus-Khan, the erstwhile Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, whose brief sexual encounter with a maid in a New York hotel led to his unceremonious exit from the world financial institution and effectively blocked his chances of becoming the next French president.
The CEO carries with him, wherever he goes, the image of the organisation that he works for. That is why he has no privacy, and is the subject of media attention. While serious publications are interested in what he does in office, and how his activities impact on the company’s fortunes, soft-sell publications are only interested in what he does outside office. They are interested in the club he belongs; where he hangs out after official hours; who he hangs out with, especially his female companions, etc. They look out for his mistakes, not his triumphs. His public conduct must therefore be such that would impact positively on the image of the organisation.
In a way, both the CEO and the organisation benefit from the conduct of the former, if it is perceived positively by the public. While expectations from the organisation and the public keep him on his toes and make him conscious at all times of the need to be above board, the organisation ‘reaps’ from his good conduct.
Toyota Fortuner: The Art of Power & Comfort
The Toyota Fortuner is Bold yet refined, rugged yet stylish. brimming with power, yet safe as home.
A symbol of strength, yet a vision of beauty, teeming with cutting-edge technology, yet interfaces effortlessly with its master. A luxury SUV unlike any other – the new Toyota Fortuner is the embodiment of Art and Comfort.
STUDY: Global Action Against Tax Evasion Failed
The most concerted global push ever undertaken against international tax evasion has failed to reverse the flow of funds to offshore financial centres, according to banking industry data.
Despite unprecedented action from political leaders, and a blizzard of bilateral co-operation treaties entered into by offshore centres, deposit data from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) shows bank accounts in tax havens still held $2.7tn (£1.7tn) last year – about the same amount as in 2007.
Niels Johannesen and Gabriel Zucman, academics who were granted access to a rarely seen breakdown of BIS data, concluded: “So far, the G20 tax haven crackdown has … largely failed … Treaties have led to a modest relocation of bank deposits between tax havens but have not triggered significant flows of funds out of tax havens.”
Their findings are in sharp contrast to the official verdict on the G20 initiative inLondon in 2009. Last November Angel Gurria, general-secretary of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the body whose job is to oversee the crackdown, told the G20 inCannes: “The era of bank secrecy is over.” Acknowledging work remained to be done in some areas, he nevertheless insisted: “It is now no longer possible to hide assets or income without risking detection.”
Presented with Johannesen and Zucman’s findings last week, Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD’s head of tax, said: “It’s an interesting survey, but perhaps it is published a bit early. Let’s see what the impact is in a couple of years.”
However, tax campaigners claim the latest study shows getting offshore centres to sign bilateral co-operation treaties is an ineffective means of tackling the problem. Weakly worded treaties, they argue, allow signatories to request financial details only where they can already demonstrate suspect evasion activity. Reformers have called for more robust transparency treaties to weed out tax evaders.
Adding to the challenge facing tax authorities is the widespread use of corporate structures spanning multiple havens. Johannesen and Zucman’s study found that some $550bn – about a quarter of all deposits in tax havens – was owned by individuals or companies in other havens. The British Virgin Islands andPanamaare popular jurisdictions for such holding companies.
Money flowing to opaque offshore financial centres has in recent years been the subject of intense political scrutiny as many of the world’s largest economies – not least the US and Britain – have been straining to raise sufficient taxes to pay for public services and to service rising debts without choking off economic growth.
The G20 crackdown has pressured many offshore financial centres to sign co-operation treaties. Jersey andGuernseyhave signed 18 and 19 such treaties respectively. According to Johannesen and Zucman, BIS data suggests that these bilateral treaties typically lead to a 3.8% fall in the deposits held on behalf of individuals or companies from the treaty partner.
Bank deposits in Jersey have dropped by more than a half, a fall of $110bn over four years; deposits inGuernseyhave declined by 15%. By contrast, Johannesen and Zucman said, Cyprus has signed only two co-operation treaties meeting OECD criteria and saw deposit levels rise by 60%.
“The deposit gains and losses correlate strongly with the number of treaties signed by each haven,” the academics found. “The least compliant havens have attracted new clients, while the most compliant have lost some, leaving roughly unchanged the total amount of wealth managed in tax havens.”
However, they also noted that those withdrawing deposits around the time of co-operation treaties – possible tax evaders – were frequently shifting their wealth to other, similarly secretive, offshore centres where no such equivalent treaty existed.
NAFDAC: Emergence of Four New Units Strengthens Fight Against Fake Drugs
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC) is geared for enhanced performance with the creation of four new departments to strengthen its fight against fake and adulterated substances in the country. The new departments are: Drug and Chemical Evaluation & Research, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Pharmacovigilance and Post Marketing as well as Veterinary Medicine and Allied Products.
The Malaria: The Scourge of Africa
- One Million Deaths Per Year (85% in sub-Saharan Africa)
- $12bn in Lost Earnings in Africa Annually
- 3.3bn people at Risk Worldwide
- 5th Leading Cause of Death Worldwide
- Children and Pregnant Women Most Vulnerable
…one of the most widespread infectious diseases of our time, taking the lives of almost one million people a year, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and under the age of 5. It is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide and almost half the world’s population (3.3 billion) is at risk.Children and pregnant women are among the most vulnerable.
The disease is not only a major killer inAfricabut a primary cause of poverty. It has been estimated to costAfricamore than US$ 12 billion every year in lost GDP. Malaria traps people in poverty and undermines the development of some of the poorest countries in the world. Though the majority of the cases and deaths (85%) from malaria are found in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is also endemic in Asia andLatin America.
Dangote: Strong Financials, Cement Sufficiency, African Expansion
Strong Organic Growth in Revenues and Profits
The results presented herein reflect the first-time consolidation of African projects and operations at Sephaku.
The Group delivered strong organic growth in both revenues and profits in 2011. Revenues after consolidation increased by 16.5% to ₦235.9bn (2010: ₦202.6bn) as a result of higher cement sales, up 9.2%, and higher average selling prices of ₦27,240 in 2011 against ₦25,554 in 2010.
Promasidor: Singing the Praise, Value of Tea
Mr. Onyekachi Onubogu, Marketing Director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited- makers of Top Tea, says tea is more affordable than other beverages in the market.
Onubogu said tea is considerably more affordable than any other beverage in the market and gives consumers more value for their money.
“Tea is significantly more affordable than any other beverage in the Nigerian market, a pack of Top Tea for instance will give consumers 26 sachets of tea at the rate of N110.”
He further said that “if a consumer drinks one Top Tea sachet every six hours, the consumer can drink four tea sachets in a day, and if one divides 26 sachets in the pack by four, then one can drink the pack in one week.”
For Cheap Fuel, Nigeria Bought Massive Corruption • Subsidy Probe Report/View From Abroad Jon Gambrell, Associated Press
For the price of cheap gasoline, Nigeria paid billions of dollars into a corrupt government system of fuel subsidies that saw huge contracts awarded to shady companies without any oversight, according to a lawmakers’ report.
The report, debated Tuesday in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, is breathtaking in its scope, even for a country where many grudgingly accept graft as a way of life in the OPEC nation’s oil industry, government and private sector. But some fear it may not change much, especially as it implicates some of the same elite class that dominate politics and business in Nigeria.
‘Hon. Melaiye Doesn’t Understand New Electricity Tariff’ —Association of Electricity Consumers
The Association of Electricity Consumers of Nigeria (AECN) has accused a former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaiye, of demonstrating an insufficient understanding of the new electricity tariff which will come into effect on June 1.
By comparing the new tariff to the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products last January which led to a hike in pump prices of petrol and kerosene, said the association, the former legislator “is clearly out of touch with reality”.
In a statement in Lagos, the AECN National Co-ordinator, Chief Ganiyu Makanjuola, said that “Honourable Melaiye is in error by assuming that the review will automatically translate to an
astronomical increase in the amount the Nigerian people, especially the masses, pay for
electricity.”
NDIC: Developing Human Capital for Risk-based Supervision
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) in collaboration with the Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) of the United States Treasury recently conducted a six-week training programme on risk-based supervision as part of the Corporation’s capacity building initiative.
Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, Managing Director/Chief Executive of NDIC, said the need for the adoption of RBS framework in the supervision of banks in the country was based on the fact that both the system and the institutions were getting more complex in terms of size, nature of products and volume of transactions. He added that if these complexities were not properly identified, measured, monitored and controlled, they could inflict damages on the institutions and the system at large.
CWG Rated Among Top 50 Technology Business Companies in West Africa
CWG Rated Among Top 50 Technology Business Companies in West Africa
The Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) has once again achieved another feat from among ICT Companies ranked in West Africa as it was recognized as one of the ‘Top 50 Technology Business Companies in West Africa’ at the 5th IT Edge West Africa Convergence Forum 2012 in Lagos.
The ranking was an annual computation of the IT Edge Intelligence Unit (IT-IU) for Top 50 Companies which is accompanied with critical research findings forming part of the survey content.
CWG, ORACLE Lead Initiative on Data Security Initiative Against Cyber Threats
IT experts recently gathered in Lagos for a one day Business Technology Summit tagged “Data Security and Optimization put in place by Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), in partnership with Oracle.
The experts saw the need for Nigerian companies, especially those in the manufacturing and service sector to leverage on latest technology to protect their databases from increased data threats in view of the expected boost on the electronic means of transaction in the country.
One of the measures to be taken by the organizations was to strengthen the protection of their databases through deployment of the newest security solutions in order to protect their corporate information and clients.
Peter Boglo, Presales Consultant, Oracle pointed out that despite the current development of Nigeria into an electronic-based economy where there would be explosion of data running on electronic platforms, Nigerian banks and other organizations had not taken advantage of latest database security solutions from Oracle to protect their networks.
NCC Slams N1.17bn Penalty on ETISALAT, Globacom over Poor Quality of Service
NCC Slams N1.17bn Penalty on ETISALAT, Globacom over Poor Quality of Service
Four Nigerian mobile service providers, MTN Nigeria, Etisalat, Airtel and Globacom are to pay a cumulative sum of N1.17 billion penalty for the poor quality of services rendered to their different subscribers in the months of March and April 2012.