BusinessDay 09 Feb 2018

Friday 09 February 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 23
COMPANIES & MARKETS
Pensions Alliance reinforces
confidence in contributory
pension scheme
…launches new campaign “Retire with a Smile”
Modestus Anaesoronye
In line with its resolve to
inspire confidence and
promote a financially
secure future among
Nigerians, Pension Alliance
Limited (PAL Pensions)
has unveiled a new campaign
tagged ‘Retire with a Smile’ to
encourage more individuals to
save towards retirement.
Morohunke Bammeke,
managing director, Pal Pensions,
speaking on the launch
of the campaign reiterated that
the mission of the organization
is to secure and deliver
retirement benefits with ease.
‘‘Our vision is to be the leading
Pension Fund Administrator in
Nigeria creating value. At PAL
Pensions, we are constantly
focused on creating value and
delivering superior customer
service to our clients. We are
driven by the passion to be the
leader in attracting new clients
and retaining old ones.
Bammeke said it is crucial
that every time our clients
interact with us, they can be
assured of the highest quality
of service delivery. “The Pal
Pensions brand exudes empathy,
warmth, partnership and
integrity and we are driven
by the passion to make things
easier for our clients’’.
Sunmisola Mark-Okoma,
head, Brand Management &
Corporate Communications
PAL Pensions speaking on the
new camping stated that ‘‘At
the core of this campaign is the
need to encourage the younger
demography to secure their
future by adopting a retirement
savings plan. We also
emphasize on the importance
of the Contributory Pensions
Scheme.”
“According to a 2017 report
by the National Bureau
L-R: Remi Babalola, former minister of State for Finance; Lateef Feyisitan of Alternative Capital
Partners and Obinna Ekwonwa, CEO, Weco Systems International Limited, during the 15th CVL
Leadership Symposium in Lagos.
of Statistics, only 10.93 percent
of Nigeria’s total working
population have retirement
savings accounts! This implies
that more than 89 percent
of Nigeria’s workforce
does not have retirement
savings accounts. With the
campaign launch, we want
to underscore the need to
choose a credible, customerfocused
PFA that would ensure
the security and growth of their
retirement savings. Our desire
is to assure Nigerians that PAL
Pensions delivers pensions services
and retirement benefits
with a smile.”
Furthermore, Sunmisola
also enumerated some packages
open to existing and new
customers. ‘‘PAL Pensions is
a company that offers performance,
service and trust
to its teeming customers. We
are committed to providing
seamless internal and external
synergy to achieve quality
services, safe investments and
capital growth”.
On the PAL Pensions’ App,
the company demonstrated
on how to navigate the app,
highlighting the benefits of the
app and the simplicity of the
user interface.
Oladimeji Kazeem, head,
ICT stated that “We are aware
that in this digital age, everyone
wants to get a product/service
on-the-go, thus the PAL Pensions
app provides you with
all the necessary information
needed at your convenience
wherever you are”. Customers
can easily access their retirement
savings account and
obtain updates on happenings
in the Pensions Industry by
downloading the app from the
Google PlayStore.
Bank of Singapore eyes more private
bankers in Dubai as assets jump
Private banking arm
of Singapore’s second-biggest
lender,
OCBC, aims to
add around 25 relationship
managers to its Dubai office
by 2020 as it targets more
business from non-resident
Indians and wealthy Middle
East clients.
Its Senior Executive, Vikram
Malhotra, told Reuters
that Bank of Singapore’s assets
under management had
risen by around 30 per cent in
Dubai since launching in the
Dubai International Financial
Centre a year ago, said.
Malhotra is the bank’s
global market head for South
Asia and Middle East.
“The non-resident Indian
business is doing well for
us, but there are opportunities
to expand more in the
GCC market,” he said in an
interview, referring to the
six countries which comprised
the Gulf Cooperation
Council.
“We are one of the larger
players in the region and our
aspiration is to be in the top
three within all our markets.
We are well placed to achieve
that.”
The bank has close to 50
relationship managers in
Dubai, up by around a 40 per
cent since 2016, and is targeting
further growth by 2020.
In Singapore and Hong
Kong, the bank had around
45 relationship managers,
he said.
Private wealth in the Middle
East and North Africa is
projected to reach 12 trillion
dollars by 2021, according to
research from Boston Consulting
Group.
Several international
banks compete with local
lenders for a slice of the private
banking market.
Malhotra, who splits his
time between Asia and the
Middle East, joined Bank
of Singapore from Barclays
Wealth after the former acquired
its Singapore and
Hong Kong unit in November
2016.
Bank of Singapore’s assets
under management stood at
$95 billion as of September
2017, up 53 per cent from a
year earlier.
Many of its core clients in
the region are non-resident
Indians who have lived in the
Middle East and Africa for
decades in some cases.
It also has a smaller number
of Middle Eastern clients,
including wealthy families.
The bank is targeting attracting
more clients from Africa,
Malhotra said, declining
to name specific countries.
OCBC’s private banking
arm has had a presence in
Dubai since 1996 through a
representative office based
outside the DIFC, the emirate’s
financial free.
ANAN ex-president tasks FG on infrastructural development
Samuel Nzekwe, former
President, Association
of National
Accountants of Nigeria
(ANAN), has advised the
Federal Government to provide
infrastructure that will
create enabling environment
for industrial sector to thrive.
Nzekwe told the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Ota, Ogun on Wednesday
that the Federal Government
should invest more
on nation’s infrastructural
development.
He said that enabling
environment would stimulate
economic activities that
would boost activities in the
industrial sector.
According to him, this
will result to increased production
of goods for both
domestic use and export to
generate foreign exchange for
the country.
He said the nation’s foreign
exchange reserve had
depleted seriously because
“we are import-oriented
country”.
“When we export more
and import less, we will get
more foreign exchange that
will stabilised the exchange
rate,’’ he said.
Nzekwe, however, said the
only way that there could be
more availability of foreign
exchange was to consume
less of foreign goods and
produce more goods for consumption
in the country.
On the announcement
on Tuesday that the CBN had
scraped the commission on
FOREX purchase in banks,
he commended the measure,
saying it would check sharp
practices but it would not be
a long term solution.
“The only permanent
measure is to ensure massive
investments in infrastructure
that will bring about enabling
environment so that industrial
sector can produce at
optimal levels for export,”
he said.
KLM, Travelstart partners Nigeria Bobsled for 2018 Winter Olympics
IFEOMA OKEKE
The historic Nigeria
female Bobsled
and Skeleton team
have signed on new
African partners. This is as
Travelstart and KLM Royal
Dutch Airlines confirmed
that the two partners have
joined forces to fly the flag
carrying team to South Korea
to aid their quest for gold.
The full team will fly from
Murtala Mohammed Airport
in Lagos through Amsterdam
to Incheon International Airport
in Seoul, the capital city
of South Korea.
Athletes, Seun Adigun,
Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma
Omeoga and Simidele Adeagbo
will represent Nigeria
at the 2018 Winter Olympics
in Pyeongchang. This is the
first time in history that Nigeria
has made an appearance.
The Winter Olympics are set
to hold between the 9th to
the 25th of February 2018 in
Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Both companies have
partnered together to show
their support for the achievement
of the Nigerian team as
well as their deep commitment
to progress in Africa.
“As Africa’s largest online
travel agency, we are
excited to use our resources
and our partnership with
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
to get the Nigerian Team
to their first Winter Olympics.
The team’s resilience,
passion, go-getter attitude
towards achieving their
goals is admirable, and is
a message that resonates
very deeply with our company
values,” Philip Akesson,
Country Manager of
Travelstart Nigeria said.
“At KLM we are always
looking for ways to be innovative,
we care about our
customers and we are also
interested in supporting the
countries we fly to. The Nigerian
Bobsled and Skeleton
team are a group of young
ladies who are innovative,
dynamic, ambitious, pacesetters,
and resilient. These great
qualities sets them apart and
embodies our company’s
ambitions. We are pleased
to unveil today a driving partnership
with Travelstart to
fly the flag carrying team to
South Korea to support their
quest for gold,” Michel Colleau,
general Manager Air
France KLM Nigeria & Ghana
added.
Travelstart is Africa’s largest
online travel agency, with
headquarters in Cape Town
and local office in Lagos.
Founded in Sweden, Travelstart
opened its doors in 1999,
as the brainchild of travel
visionary Stephan Ekbergh.