14012020 - 50 years after: Let's revisit issues that caused Civil War

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38 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 Housing deficit: LASG completes 360 homes for occupation in Ikorodu By Olasunkanmi Akoni Lagos State Government said it has completed construction of 360 additional housing units for commissioning soon as part of its efforts to tackle the challenge of housing deficit in the state. The state Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Moruf Akinderu–Fatai, disclosed this recently, while conducting a validation and inspection visit to •To deliver 3,500 homes in 2020 Lagos Homes, LAGSHOM Igbogbo Scheme 2B, in Ikorodu Local Government area of the state. “Lagos is adding 360 more homes to the existing stock of homes in the state in the next few weeks,” Fatai said. According to him, the state government has resolved to complete all housing schemes that were set aside by the previous administration in order to speedily bring succour to residents by increasing the availability of decent accommodation for the increasing population of the state. “Reducing the housing deficit and bringing more people on the home ownership ladder through provision of affordable and quality homes are tasks that are germane to building a 21st century economy. “Hence, the administration of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is frontally pursuing the goals of completing all the on-going housing schemes to ensure that befitting and decent accommodation is available to the ever increasing population of the state,” he said. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Wasiu Akewusola who also affirmed that over 360 families will soon move to their homes, expressed satisfaction with the on– going works at the site and he encourages the contractors to keep up with the good job in order to deliver at the targeted date. He disclosed that in year 2020, not less than 3,500 homes in Sangotedo, Idale in Badagry, Odo Onasa/ Ayandelu, Ibeshe, Egan- Igando and Ajara will be completed from both government owned schemes and joint ventures. The LagsHom Igbogbo Housing Estate is made up of 30 blocks of buildings with 120 units each of three-bedrooms, twobedrooms and one- Bedroom making a total of 360 units of family homes. In addition, the scheme which commenced in 2012 has a central sewage treatment plant, Water treatment plant, high quality road network, and Street lights. As confidence returns to real estate, the industry faces a number of fundamental shifts that will shape its future. We have looked into the likely changes in the real estate landscape over the coming years and identified the key trends which, we believe, will have profound implications for real estate investment and development. PriceWaterCooper PWC, has noted that looking forward to 2020 and beyond, the real estate investment industry will find itself at the centre of rapid economic and social change, which is transforming the built environment. According to a report by PWC, while most of these trends are already evident, there is a natural tendency to underestimate their By Chris Ochayi In a bid to restore sanity to the built environment, the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, CORBON, has concluded plans to digitise housing construction with a view to checkmating the incessant incidents of building collapse in the country. To this end, the body consisting of seven professionals in the industry announced it has opened up a window of collaborating with AUTODESK and BIM Africa to build capacity of builders to be BIMready. “Autodesk is a technology that makes software for people who operate across sectors such as manufacturing, Real estate will transform built environment in 2020 — Experts By Kingsley Adegboye with Agency report implications over the next six years and beyond. “By 2020, real estate managers will have a broader range of opportunities, with greater risks and new value drivers. As real estate is a business with long development cycles, as from planning to construction takes several years, now is the time to plan for these changes. “Already, thousands of people migrate from Building Collapse: CORBON Partners BIM, AUTODESK to digitise housing construction architecture, building, construction, media, and entertainment, and it gives you the power to make anything. “While BIM- the Building Information Modelling gives you more detailed information about projects and for you to know whether you are going to have problem during execution, it generates a project as far as five dimensions. And with that, all stakeholders will be able to collaborate within the common data environment”, Kabir Bala, CORBON Chairman, said. Disclosing this at the induction ceremony of 258 new practitioners into building profession recently, Bala described the collaboration as historic in the history of housing construction in Nigeria. According to him, “Today, we will be admitting 258 new practitioners into this prestigious profession. I believe a special congratulation to all the inductees is in order. This is my sixth year as the Chairman of CORBON, and each year, we congregate to celebrate the heart-warming decision of trained builders’ to take up the Council’s instruments that legitimise the Building Technology practice in all aspects and ramifications in Nigeria. “I consider this year’s induction as unique because of the record number of inductees and is the first set of inductees to be exposed to the ‘future of construction’ – the Building Information Modelling. “CORBON is collaborating with AUTODESK and BIM Africa to build capacity of builders to be BIM-ready. The decision of the Council to commit to these opportunities is deliberate. “It is intended for setting a high standard for professional services in the built environment. Thus, I wish to state here that CORBON and builders are disposed to collaborations with other stakeholders for better project quality, faster project delivery, reduced wastages, reduced construction costs, etc. “I enjoin you, my dear inductees not to sit back and rely on your current ability but to work tirelessly in acquiring new knowledge and skills that the fourth industrial revolution will demand. country to city across Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa on a daily basis, attracted by the new wealth of these economies. By 2020, this migration will be firmly established. The cities will swell, and some entirely new ones will spring up. “Meanwhile, the growing emerging markets’ middle class and ageing global population are increasing demand for specific types of real estate. Sub-sectors such as agriculture, education, healthcare and retirement will be far bigger by 2020. “High energy prices, climate change and government regulation are already pushing sustainability up the real estate agenda, but by 2020, their impact will be far greater. Technology is already disrupting real estate economics, but by 2020, it will have reshaped entire sectors. And the real estate community will have taken a greater role in the financial ecosystem, in part moving into the space left by banks”. Pointing out that its fictional forum illustrates some elements of this change, PWC said “We believe the new era of real estate investment, to 2020 and beyond, is the beginning of a time of unprecedented opportunity for real estate investors and asset managers, although with greater risk. “The global stock of institutional-grade real estate will expand by more than 55 per cent from US$29.0 trillion in 2012, to US$45.3 trillion in 2020, according to our calculations. It may then grow further to US$69.0 trillion in 2030. This huge expansion in investable real estate will be greatest in the emerging economies, where economic development will lead to better tenant quality and, in some countries, clearer property rights. “And it will play out across housing, commercial real estate and infrastructure. Indeed, as intense competition continues to compress investment yields for core real estate, real estate managers will have every incentive to search for higher yields elsewhere”.
Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 — 39 Seminar: From left: Adamu Balanti, a director;Sunday Thomas , acting Commissioner for Insurance/CEO and Olufemi Oluniyi, a director , all of the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM), at a seminar for Journalists in Kano . How govt indifference, recapitalisation, others shaped insurance in 2019 Stories by Cynthia Alo Activities in the insurance industry in 2019 maintained a slow pace occasioned mostly by the non renewal of public sector insurance for the third consecutive year. Consequently, patronage by some government parastatals was stalled due to non-release of funds. However the industry saw growth in 2019 as firms strengthened their retail offerings while there was increase in premium rate of group life. One of the major highlights for the year was the suspension of the insurance rebranding campaign project due to unimpressive response of some companies. Other major activities in 2019 include the extension of the deadline for the recapitalization exercise; fake motor insurance enlightenment campaign etc. The rebranding campaign Recapitalisation: Deadline extension will boost fund raising opportunities —Underwriters Insurance underwriters have said that the exten sion of the recapitalisation exercise by the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, will allow them explore other means of raising funds to shore up their capitals. According to the underwriters, this will not only give them room to explore untapped means of raising funds but create deeper understanding of the benefit of the exercise. NAICOM had in a circular dated December 30, 2019, and signed by Director, Policy and Regulations, Mr. Pius Agboola, announced a six months extension of the recapitalisation deadline to December 31, 2020. The Commission said the need for the extension came after it reviewed the recapitalisation plans submitted by operators, the various levels of compliance observed, and the inputs noted from various engagements with relevant stakeholders. Commenting on the development, Chief Executive Officer, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc, Mr. Kenneth Egbaran expressed confidence that the extension will avail the underwriters, room to explore other means of increasing their funds. Egbaran told Vanguard that, it is imperative to note that the present economy makes it hard to raise funds and as such the regulators have done the right thing in postponing the deadline. He said: “You are aware of what is going on in the capital market, so the Commission has done well in extending the deadline as this would give the underwriters room to explore other means of raising funds. It is the state of the economy that determines how the capitals are raised otherwise the alternative is to look outside and that will mean bringing in foreign investors but primarily the capital is expected to be raised from the local economy except we are expecting a take over from foreign investors." In the same light, Managing Director, Old Mutual General Insurance Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Olalekan Oyinlade, said, “The end of the year pronouncement on the extension of deadline recapitalization would allow various underwriters a bit of more time to ensure that the benefit of the recapitalization is not negated." In a chat with Vanguard, a top official of AIICO who pleaded to remain anonymous said that the extension will allow other insurance companies to further perfect their record and get funds from their investors to meet up with the new requirement which is of huge benefit to the industry. According to him, many people believe that extending the recapitalization will negate the real sense of the exercise, adding, "I don’t see it being swept under the carpet like others believe because this will help other companies meet up with the recapitalization requirement. He stated that those in view that the extension will be unrealizable are those that believe that the initial request for the recapitalization was politically motivated adding, "if it is borne out of the need for sanity and sanctity of the industry, it will be executed and it will be seen through by the industry authorities. However, an insurance specialist and former head of retail business at Cornerstone Insurance, Mr. Ekeret Glam- Ikon opined that rather than extending the deadline, the Commission should pronounce the names of those ready for the exercise and go ahead with them in the interest of the policyholders. According to him, some companies are ready for the recapitalisation while some will never be ready no matter how long the Commission decides to stretch the exercise. He warned that this act could make a lot of the underwriters who are not paying claims to further delay in claims payment while the policyholders could decide to invest in other opportunities." On December 13 2019, the Insurers Committee, which is made up of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, as well as all the chief executives of insurance companies announced the suspension of the rebranding campaign project. Introduced in 2018, with estimated budget of N300 million, the campaign was geared towards increasing insurance awareness and deepening penetration in the country. The suspension, according to the Committee, became necessary due to failure of some companies who refused to pay up their own part of the contribution thereby hindering the progress of the campaign. The Committee however said that the project will be revisited in the future. Extension of recapitalization exercise On May 20 2019, NAICOM announced a recapitalization exercise for insurance and reinsurance companies, with June 30, 2020 deadline for compliance. This however did not go down well with some of the insurance companies as some of them argued that the economy did not present better opportunity for the industry to strive. Even shareholders were not left out in the agitation and constantly called on the regulator to extend the time frame or cancel it outright. This prompted NAICOM to extend the deadline to December 2020. Fake motor insurance enlightenment campaign On October 2nd, the Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, commenced a campaign against fake motor insurance in Nigeria tagged 'wetin U Carry.' In this regard, the Association said it deployed 2020: CIIN urges insurance operators to embrace creativity Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria,CIIN has called on industry professionals to deploy more creativity in the sector to further deepen insurance penetration in 2020. President of the Institute, Mr. Eddie Efekoha stated this in his new year message noting that year 2020 is a year to put into practice all that have been preached as professionals. He said: ''The year 2020 is an important year for the insurance industry. It is a year in which we are mandated to put into practice all that we have preached as professionals. ''Recapitalization of insurance and reinsurance companies is no longer an idea but a reality and the industry has to embrace it wholly. Its advent calls for insurance professionals to embrace creativity and work harder than ever before for the future of this industry. It will not be an easy ride and all our resources will be stretched thin, however it is my belief that we will all profit from this exercise, '' he stated . ''I would also like to commend the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for their support for the Institute and College programmes in 2019. I urge all trade bodies of the industry namely: Nigerian Insueres Association, (NIA), Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers(NCRIB), Institute of Loss over 33 cops in the street of Lagos to kick off the exercise. Operators comment Speaking on the performance of the sector in 2019, Managing Director, Old Mutual General Insurance Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Olalekan Oyinlade said that the industry was thrown off balance with the performance of the general economy which insurance is not insulated from. “The initial apprehension over the non-clarity of the recapitalization process also threw operators off balance,” he stated. Managing Director, Veritas Kapital Assurance, Mr.Kenneth Egbaran, said that the industry saw growth in 2019 through strengthening of its retail market and the increase in premium rate of group life. Way forward Despite the challenges in 2019, Oyinlade maintained that for the industry to grow, operators must continue to change product offerings to meet the prevailing challenges whilst developing alternative distribution channel largely on digital models which he said is cost effective and efficient. He said: ''The industry focus should be on developing the less served middle and mass market. These sections of the pyramid need insurance and the challenge are for the practitioners to offer them real solutions that meet their needs." Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN) and Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria(ARIAN)to stay committed to promoting the insurance industry's agenda. Together we can achieve so much.'' ''There are many benefits to be derived from the membership of the Institute including but not limited to access to industry reports and research papers, discounted examination fees, group life benefits ( to the tune of N500,000) and permanent disability benefits (to the tune of N250,000). The Institute remains committed to offering value to its members and I can assure you that more benefits will be unveiled in the nearest future. Reiterating his commitments in advancing insurance education and professionalism, he said that the institute will consistently provide world class manpower with the highest standard of professional and ethical training for operating effectively and efficiently in the Nigerian and international business environment. '' The Institute is our pride and represents a beacon of light to the insurance industry. It is my hope that as stakeholders, we will continue to lift the Institute higher by actively participating in its programmes and activities in 2020, thus making the year more successful than the previous.''
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