PwC expresses optimism on economy

Despite the harsh economic conditions, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a multinational professional services network has expressed optimism over Nigeria’s economy, saying it’s going to recuperate within two years. Speaking at the cocktail event organised for its alumni to showcase the firm’s new office in Lagos on Monday, the Chief Operating Partner, PwC Nigeria, Pedro Omontuemhen, said the firm is not surprised at the latest report released by the National Bureau Statistics (NBS). He noted that the rate of inflation, which measures the general movement in the prices of goods and services, is on the increase, even as there is no corresponding increase in workers’ salaries. Indeed, many state governments are unable to pay their workers for many months despite Federal Government bailouts Omontuemhen also noted that due to the devaluation of the currency, the prices or goods and services, necessarily had to rise, saying: “We also noticed recently that people are now exporting everything exportable.“We believe that the price of basic food items would continue to increase and what the Bureau has revealed is that price of commodities is higher compared to the selling period last quarter.”   He also believed that the country and Nigerians are “going to go through some part of tough times before we begin to recover; we estimate between one and two year before we see a full recovery of the economy.”He however explained that what is happening is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, as the same phenomenon is happening to many other economies of the world that are dependent on crude oil for survival. “The price of crude oil has fallen down and for us as a country, the volume of crude oil we produce for a long time dropped not until recently we have continued to increase the volume. The drop in price of crude oil plus the drop in volume affected the local economies,” he expounded. He urged government to accelerate its diversification process, as it essential at this period to reflate the economy. “Government has always talked about diversification of economy; I think this is the time to really do it, this is the real time to roll up our sleeves and look for something else we can do besides depending on crude oil,” Omontuemhen said. Source: Guardian

KPMG Seeks More Collaboration Between Financial Institutions, Fintechs

One of the leading providers of tax, audit and advisory services in Nigeria, KPMG has called for the partnership between financial institutions and Fintechs in order to bridge the gap between the growing need of customers, their user experience and the institutions as a whole. This call was made at a one-day Fintech summit held in Lagos Nigeria.According to them, this collaboration is important as it is the key to lending, getting information in the credit registry, getting connected to BVN amongst others, as it is important to have an innovative mind set, which should be open to collaboration.Partner and Head, Financial Services Sector, KPMG, Mr. Ayo Othihiwa, noted that regulators needed to be accessible particularly to enable regulations as there are some fintech themes like the block chain which are very controversialHe stated that: “The government is important as they need to understand that Fintechs bring value to the society and development to the nation as a whole. They need to roll out incentives in other to aid this space. They also need to support the Fintechs as they are fragile and still need nurturing Source: Thisday Heritage Bank Launches Biometric Identity Card for PMAN Accessibility, security, trust, convenience and cost effectiveness are key defining features of a new partnership between Heritage Bank Plc and the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN) with the launch of an exclusive biometric identity card. The development, which deepens an already existing relationship with the PMAN led to the introduction of the PMAN Membership Biometric Identity Card (PMBIC), a multipurpose card specially designed for Nigerian artistes and allied operators in the entertainment industry, thus making Heritage Bank, Nigeria’s most innovative banking service provider, a pioneer in the biometric card services in the industry. Renewable annually, the PMBIC will serve as the official PMAN identification card that qualifies the holder as a genuine member of the association and entitles the artiste to enjoy the myriad benefits and privileges due to registered members. According to a statement from the bank which explained these benefits, the scheme was to create a robust and protective platform for all Nigerian singers, back-up singers, instrumentalists, dancers, comedians, script writers, film producers, actors and actresses, distributors, marketers, Disc Jockeys (DJs) and artiste managers among others. Source: Thisday

Diamond Bank Offers High Interest Yielding Savings Plan

Diamond Bank has opened a window of money management opportunity that enables parents and guardians plan and save for the future of their children through a simplified and high interest yielding target savings plan. The financial product, known as ‘Diamond Future’ according to a statement from the bank, does not only enable parents to save, but also to teach their children to develop healthy savings habit and build prudent expenditure profile and diverse investment portfolio. According to the bank, Diamond Future was created and launched into the market in 2014 but now refreshed to help parents meet set savings targets for their children and easily accomplish their future financial goals and needs with excitement. Information about the financial product revealed that it is a savings account designed for children between ages 0-17 years, and offers a well guided and structured plan with the opportunity of earning high interest rates. The plan is known as Diamond Future Target Savings Plan. The bank’s chief spokesperson, Chioma Afe, stated that a major reason for creating the product is to instill in children the value and dignity of starting early to chart healthy financial course in life, and also deepen financial inclusion by integrating the children into the banking community. “We want young people to know that Diamond Bank is not just for adults, Diamond Bank is your Bank too. We have worked hard to be the bank that understands the financial needs of parents and their children and to provide the right products and support to help them save to achieve their dreams,” Afe said. The new offerings in the refreshed savings plan, provides customers with an opportunity to be rewarded with an additional interest accrual on agreed monthly savings. The reward increases as the number of years the customer has set in the savings plan increase. Source: Thisday

Governing Council Approves New Group Life Insurance for Members

As a means of ensuring that the Group Life Insurance Policy covers all the professional members of the Institute, the Governing Council at its meeting of December 3, 2015, approved a review of the policy which was introduced in 2012. To this end, all professional members who are up to date in the payment of their annual subscriptions will be covered under the new policy which has a sum assured of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira). The new policy is expected to take off from January 2016. With the new policy, most members can enjoy financial peace of mind, safe and secure in the knowledge that the immediate needs of their loved ones are taken care of in case of any eventuality.

For enquiries/comments, pleased contact Funmbi Akinluyi at: olufunmbiakinluyi@cibng.org/ 0816 873 0986 or Peter Ejeomo at: peterejeomo@cibng.org/ 0802 844 4550 

Brain implants allow paralysed monkeys to walk

For more than a decade, neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine has been flying every few months from his lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne to another lab in Beijing, China, where he conducts research on monkeys with the aim of treating spinal-cord injuries. The commute is exhausting — on occasion he has even flown to Beijing, done experiments, and returned the same night. But it is worth it, says Courtine, because working with monkeys in China is less burdened by regulation than it is in Europe and the United States. And this week, he and his team report the results of experiments in Beijing, in which a wireless brain implant — that stimulates electrodes in the leg by recreating signals recorded from the brain — has enabled monkeys with spinal-cord injuries to walk. “They have demonstrated that the animals can regain not only coordinated but also weight-bearing function, which is important for locomotion. This is great work,” says Gaurav Sharma, a neuroscientist who has worked on restoring arm movement in paralysed patients, at the non-profit research organization Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio The treatment is a potential boon for immobile patients: Courtine has already started a trial in Switzerland, using a pared-down version. Source: Guardian

Nigeria at Risk of Zika Virus

With the recent alarm raised by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control that the Zika virus vector is widely circulating in Nigeria, experts are of the opinion that the government must step up measures against the deadly disease. Martins Ifijeh writes When Brazil, in June last year experienced an outbreak of Zika virus, a relatively unknown pathogen, not many people referred to it as a public health challenge requiring utmost priority, until it took a new turn and was becoming deadly, forcing the World Health Organisation (WHO) in February 1 this year, to declare it an international health emergency, requiring new and urgent tool to eradicate. But as Nigerians continue to see it as American and Asian health challenge, recent development suggests Nigeria and other malaria endemic nations are at risk of the deadly virus since its transmitter, the Aedes mosquitois a common strain of the mosquito family known to exist in Nigeria and other countries battling with malaria. In fact, in a more direct statement by the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Zika virus is already widely circulating in the country. Shockingly, he said there was the absence of continued surveillance or periodic national surveys, with the epidemiology of the virus still poorly understood in the country. Though an uncommon disease, it is not strange to Nigeria and Africa at large. In 1960, the country experienced the first human case of the virus, according to WHO records; that is 27 years after it was first documented in monkeys in Uganda, an East African country, known to be a breeding region for mosquitoes, just like Nigeria. But the world did not take the 76 years old virus seriously because its outbreaks were sporadic and tiny, and the disease seemed to do little harm to humans, until recently with its recent manifestation in South America and Asia, starting with birth deformities in newborn, among other clinical features.The virus. Source: Thisday

Local plants’ combo could provide diabetes cure

There is no cure for diabetes! But recent studies suggest that a combination of local plants with lifestyle changes especially increase in physical activities and skipping dinner could be used to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes and effectively manage and stop complications in those already with the disease. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes on the combination of local plants that could provide the next novel drug for the condition. Several studies have shown that there is rise in cases of diabetes in the country with the attendant complications including kidney damage, limb amputation, irreversible blindness, erectile dysfunction, hypertension to mention but a few. But a new study has shown that a combination of scent leaf (Ocimum basilicum), stonebreaker (Phyllanthus niruri) and mistletoe (Viscum album) may provide the remedy. Earlier studies had validated bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina), bitter kola (Garcinia kola) and bitter gourd or melon (Mormodica charantia) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. According to the Second Edition of Handbook of African Medicinal Plants by Maurice Iwu, a peptide designated as P-insulin has been reported from Mormodica. A preparation of Vernonia amygdalina has also received United States Patent for treatment of diabetes and cancer.The new study titled “Antidiabetic property of some Nigerian medicinal plants” was published in Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. The authors were led by Prof. Maurice M. Iwu of the International Centre for Ethnomedicine & Drug Development (INTERCEDD), Nsukka, Enugu State;Michel K. Tchimene of the Department of Pharmacognosy & Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and Charles O. Okoli of the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.The. Source: Guardian