Capital Express Assurance to provide life insurance to low-income earners

By LAMIN JAHATEH, Banjul Capital Express Assurance (Gambia) Limited has planned to aggressively promote life insurance penetration at the rural level through its suites of micro-insurance products. The focus on the rural areas is in cognizance of the fact that life insurance is beneficial for all and has to be made accessible and affordable for low- and medium-income earners. Pic: Managing Director (Mr. Adegboye in the middle) & Board Members This is part of the company’s business generation strategies for 2011, which include massive decentralization of quality life insurance services throughout the length and breadth of The Gambia. In a press conference held on Monday at the company’s head office at Sankung Sillah Building along Kairaba Avenue, Mr. Kunle Adegboye, managing director of Capital Express - the only specialised life assurance company in The Gambia, said that as part of the strategies, his company has started a massive agency network process by recruiting different cadres of agents for distribution of the company’s products to the people of The Gambia. “We have recently completed a deal with one of the largest banks in The Gambia and as part of the partnership agreement, we will have a table or a kind of small office where we can meet the insurance needs of the people, which means you don’t have to come to the head office to get your life product, you don’t have to come here to get your claim paid; right at the bank you can do your insurance transactions,” Mr Adegboye said. “We are not stopping at the banks; we are also going to get into partnership with the big supermarkets and any public place. Anywhere people frequently visit to get one form of product or service, we are going to partner with them. All this is geared towards taking insurance to the doorsteps of our clients.  In this case, anywhere that Capital Express has no branch you will see a branch of that bank, so our clients can easily walk into this bank and do their insurance transaction.  I don’t want to name the bank because they have not yet announced it.” Capital Express is the first insurance company in The Gambia to include a customer service department in its operation. With products like guarantee tuition protection plan, future income plan, annuity plan policy, credit life assurance policy, guaranteed education protection, universal life assurance plan, and personal protection plan, Mr Adegboye noted that his company is sure of providing a world class insurance services that will make a turning point in the country's insurance industry. He said the three risks – the risk of dying too soon, the risk of living too long, and the risk of becoming disabled - can all be adequately covered through any one of these pool of products. Mr Adegboye assured every individual that Capital Express will always remain true to its policy of ensuring that whoever has a genuine claim with the company is paid without hassle. “And also no matter what kind of situation they are in, we will try our level best to resolve it for them,” he said. “Our new state-of-the-art insurance software will be launched early next year,” the Capital Express MD said, adding that the company is standing on a solid rock of a high calibre of human resource with a modern sophisticated technology. “Work is already at an advanced stage on the deployment of the application and this will go-live early in the New Year,” Mr Adegboye says. The software is in line with the mission of the company, which is to provide wealth management and risk protection services to at least one member of every household where they are licensed to operate using the most sophisticated technology and manpower. With this software in place, any prospective customer of Capital Express can just walk into any business centre, have access to the internet and will be able to have a policy of Capital Express within 24 hours.  Again the existing policyholder who has access to the internet can be able to access his records, know the state of his policy and anything that he wants to know about his policy, just with a click of a button. In line with its vision to be a world class financial services provider, the company, apart from it base in the Nigerian city of Lagos, has full-fledged subsidiaries in five African countries, namely Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. ”By the grace of God, next year we will open other offices in South Africa and Mauritius,” Mr Adegboye disclosed. Niyi Onifade, Managing Director of Capital Assurance Global Franchise Ltd based in Lagos, Nigeria, says the focus of Capital Express (G) Ltd is to satisfy the life insurance needs of the people of The Gambia. He told journalists that the company is in The Gambia for the benefit of her people: “We are not in The Gambia just to make money and go; no. Our focus is to do business here, make money, provide employment for the Gambians and invest money we make in The Gambia to take the country to the next level.” Mr Onifade, who is a member of the Board of Directors of Capital Express (G) Limited, says he is convinced that The Gambia is a country they can make remarkable achievements. Since The Gambia is a predominantly Muslim state, Mr Onifade notes, Capital Express will introduce a product that will be in line with Islamic injunction. The parent company of Capital Express Assurance (G) Limited, Capital Express Assurance Group in Lagos, Nigeria, has an authorised capital of N7.5 billion. The company is reckoned to be the fastest growing life assurance company in Nigeria.

‘Gambia should not depend on grants to finance the economy’

National Assembly Member told Minister of Finance By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul Hon. Sellu Bah, National Assembly Member for Basse, has told the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs that The Gambia should not depend on grants to finance its economy. ”Let us work as a nation to ensure that we collect our domestic revenue to the letter to counter any negative response on grant,” Hon. Bah said on Monday at the National Assembly while seconding the motion that, the National Assembly should consider and approve the draft estimates of revenue, recurrent and development expenditure for the fiscal year 2011, tabled by Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Abdou Kolley. Tabling the motion before the parliamentarians, Minister Kolley said the national budget balance as at the end of September 2010 stood at a deficit of D733.6 million or 2.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This steep nosedive of the budget balance is due to negative donor response from the country’s donor partners, the Basse NAM says: “I think this would teach us a lesson.” However, at the time of presenting the 2010 Budget Estimates, the budget deficit of the year was projected at D298.7 million, representing D1.39% of GDP. Hon. Bah urged the Gambia Revenue Authority to be very vigilant in collecting the revenue due to the country.  “There should be no compromise on revenue collection,” he says, adding that The Gambia is a tax-based country, so “we must do all what is possible” to ensure that the taxes are collected. The government has been leaning on external resources to finance its budget deficit.  In 2009, the budget deficit was estimated at D100 million, or 0.5 per cent of GDP.  The full financing for 2009 budget comprised a domestic borrowing and net external financing among others, according to the 2009 National Budget. Again, the 2011 fiscal deficit, which is estimated at D466.36 million or 1.47 of GDP would be financed by “foreign and domestic borrowing amounting to D833.82 million and D120 million respectively”, the Minister Kolley said.

Member States to share experiences, challenges in money laundering & terrorist financing

By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul The Inter-Government Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria will hold its 14th Technical Commission /Plenary meeting from the 7th-9th December, 2010 at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria. The event will offer an opportunity for Member States to come together to share their experiences with respect to the challenges they are facing in implementing effective Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.  Plenary meetings are thus an integral part of GIABA’s efforts at fostering regional integration in ECOWAS region. The Plenary Meeting is an assembly of experts including representatives of Member States, development partners and observers in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. A key element during the meetings is the consideration and approval of mutual evaluation reports of member States towards assessing their level of compliance to FATF 40+9 Recommendations in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. The Plenary Meeting shall be declared opened by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of GIABA Ministerial Committee, Hon. Muhammed Bello Adoke (SAN) on Wednesday, December 8th, 2010. Also during the meetings, the activity report of GIABA will be presented by the Director General, Dr Abdullahi Shehu. In addition, the Director General will hold a round table discussion with development partners and GIABA National Correspondents amongst others. GIABA as a specialised ECOWAS institution as well as FATF-Styled Regional Body (FSRB) holds twice a year technical commission/ plenary meetings for representatives of Member States to discuss a number of pertinent issues that require concerted and harmonised approach in addressing them.

Gambia Government spends out of budget: Deficit D733.6 Million

By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul The Gambia’s fiscal performance continues to be challenged by higher-than-projected expenditures by the government that are not matched by revenue performance of the country. For this reason, the country has a budget deficit of D733.6 million or 2.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as at the end of September 2010, though the Minister of Finance, Hon. Abdou Kolley, said his ministry continues to monitor and control expenditures to enable us to achieve an improved fiscal balance by the end of the year. Hon. Kolley made this statement on Monday while presenting the estimates of revenues, recurring and development expenditures for the fiscal year 2011 before the National Assembly for consideration and approval. The Finance Minister told the parliamentarians that fiscal deficit for 2011 is estimated at D466.36 million or 1.47 percent of GDP.  He explained that the deficit would be financed by foreign and domestic borrowing amounting to D833.82 million and D120.00 million respectively.  He said foreign amortization is projected at D506.20 million. He said:  “Interest payment is projected to increase from D762.40 million in 2010 to D918.59 million in 2011.  This is mainly attributable to the securitization of the government overdraft position with the Central Bank of The Gambia in the interest of better fiscal management. “Total expenditure and net lending is estimated to increase from D5.77 billion in 2010 to D6.12 billion in 2011, representing 19.30 of GDP.” This increase in mainly attributed to increases in personnel emoluments, which is projected to grow by 11.5 percent and other current expenditure. The Gambia’s total revenue and grants is estimated to increase from an approved level of D5.50 billion in 2010 to D5.65 billion in 2011, representing 17.82 percent of GDP.  This is attributed o increase in domestic revenue and project grants. “Domestic tax revenue is estimated to increase from the approved figure of D3.99 billion in 2010 to D4.07 billion in 2011.  Project grants is estimated to increase from D636.16 million in 2010 to D981.10 million in 2011,” Hon. Kolley said. He explained that the ministry of finance continues to keep a keen eye on domestic debt stock, line with the recently adopted domestic debt strategy.  “This caution is what also informs our decision to restrain spending,” he said As at end-September 2010, the total outstanding domestic debt stock increased to D1.8 billion, representing 24.67 percent of GDP, from D6.9 billion a year earlier driven mainly by the 30-year Government Bond and increased Treasury Bills issuance.  The sharp surge in domestic debt is mainly explained by the recent transformation of the overdraft in the Treasury Main Account at the Central Bank into a long term bond in the interest of better public financial management and also to help then country conform to borrowing limit of the CBG Act. According to the Finance Minister The Gambia’s performance under our current Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme with the IMF is broadly satisfactory. “All the quantitative, as well as qualitative targets were met, barring the basic balance which continues to be a challenge for the past two years,” he said. The difficulty in meeting this target is explained by huge expenditures but also some flaws in the computation of basic balance criterion.  Hon. Kolley said the ministry of finance continues to negotiate with the IMF on this issue, whilst trying to restrain expenditure and also come up with additional revenue measures. Hon. Kolley told the parliamentarians that The Gambia economy continues its robust growth trajectory in the face of unfavorable global economic environment.  He said GDP is estimated to grow by about 5.5 percent in 2010, an improvement over the previous projection of 5 percent, underpinned by healthy performance of the agricultural sector. He explained that inflation continues to be subdued with average inflation standing at 4.2 percent in September 2010 compared to 5.6 percent a year earlier.  He said food items, which accounts for 55 percent of the weight of the basket of goods and services, continued to be the main driver of headline inflation. The Finance Minister’s presentation of the estimates to the National Assembly is in conformity with the laws of the land.  Section 152 (1) of the 1997 constitution of the Gambia requires the President to instruct the Minister of Finance to prepare and submit to the National Assembly at least 30 days before the end of each financial year the estimates of revenue and expenditures of The Gambia for the following year. Furthermore, section 22 (1) of the Budget  Management and Accountability Act of 2004 also requires the Minister of Finance to lay before the National Assembly the Appropriation Bill Document at least 30 days before the end of the financial year. However, Section 52 (1a) of the 1997 constitution requires the National Assembly within a maximum of 14 days after receiving the estimates of revenues, recurrent and development expenditures, to consider and approve the estimates.

IMF urges Gambia to introduce Value Added Tax

The International Monetary Fund has urged The Gambia to pursue a comprehensive tax reform, centered on the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) by 2013. In a report prepared by the staff team of the IMF following a discussion that ended in June, this year, with the officials of The Gambia on economic developments and policies, the IMF stressed that a broad based VAT has proven to be a reliable revenue source in many countries throughout the world, including sub-Saharan Pic: Executive Director of IMF  Africa. A shift towards a more consumption based tax system with improved tax payer services could form the cornerstone to a more enabling environment for business and investment in The Gambia. However, it could be recalled that Hon. Abdou Colley, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, while delivering the 2010 budget speech said The Gambia has planned the introduction a Value Added Tax system on or before January 2013. IMF Country Report of The Gambia maintained that preparing for a successful launch of VAT, “requires that existing systems and policies are improved.” This includes an overhaul of the small business tax, further roll-out of self-assessment, the establishment of a tax refund system, and improvements in taxpayer services. Additional steps include widening the base of the current sales tax and enforcement of excise taxes on domestically produced goods. Capacity constraints in tax administration will guide policy choices to ensure that a new tax system can be run efficiently within the resource constraints faced by The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA). “Complementary measures are needed to make the tax system efficient and friendlier to tax payers,” the report noted, while adding that several “nuisance” taxes—taxes with low revenue potential but high administrative and compliance costs—could be abolished. This would free resources at the GRA to pursue more revenue-relevant activities and improve the tax environment for the private sector. It further maintained that tax payer services could be improved by the establishment of a tax and customs tribunal. The Gambia’s tax system undermines the business climate, yet revenue is volatile and remains below the regional average. The country’s domestic revenues account for only about 15% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  The volatility of the revenue is partly because of fixed retail fuel prices and varying tax collection priorities. Poor scores on tax compliance and tax payer services are an important reason for the low ranking of Gambia’s business climate. The authorities’ response The report stated that The Gambian authorities agreed that the country’s tax system is in need of reform. It says the authorities clearly stated their commitment to the introduction of a VAT in the context of their membership in ECOWAS. However, the report indicated that the authorities have yet to decide on the timing of the preparatory intermediate steps to be taken. “They (Gambian authorities) did note that the GRA is in the process of implementing the collection of excise taxes on domestically produced goods, both as a revenue measure and to meet World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments. They also stressed their long-term goal of reducing corporate income tax to enhance the competitiveness of The Gambia within the ECOWAS region,” the report further explained.

Deficiencies in Gambia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing Terrorism compliance system

The Mutual Evaluation Report on The Gambia, by Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in 2009, noticed knowledge and capacity deficiencies among reporting entities, including compliance officers of banks, as part of the major weakness in the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance regime.  Pic: Director General of GIABA, Dr. Abdullahi Shehu Correcting these deficiencies in order to guaranty the safety and soundness of the financial institutions in The Gambia was the objective of a three day National AML and CFT Compliance training workshop that commenced on Monday, 29th November 2010, at Paradise Suites Hotel for compliance officers of banks in the country.   The training was organized by GIABA in collaboration with DataPro, the leading and most experienced AML/CFT compliance training and consulting firm in Nigeria. Speaking at the occasion, the Director General of GIABA, Dr. Abdullahi Shehu said the training is the beginning of the assistance and support that GIABA will be giving to the compliance officers of banks in The Gambia. He said The Gambia remains a strategic tourist destination and an emerging financial supermarket in West Africa sub-region, and also the country is vulnerable to the risks of criminals, money launderers and terrorist trying to use the country and its institutions to perpetrate their nefarious activities. “We must therefore remain vigilant not only because of our national security, economic planning and social development but also to ensure the soundness and safety of our banks and other financial institutions,” he said. The managing of director DataPro, Mr. Abimbola Adeseyoju explained that the participants will benefit from the practical and professional experiences of the facilitators to improve on their compliances procedures, processes, programs and policies. He said the participants will be exposed to the latest techniques, solutions, patterns and trends on AML and CFT. The compliances officers would be sensitized to International Best practices of AML and CFT compliance, and the typologies of money laundering.  The training would also provide the compliance officers the knowledge and tools required to file mandatory and suspicious reports to relevant authorities.    The participants would also have the opportunity to share and listen to practical and live experiences of internal control processes, procedures, programs and policies of AML and CFT compliance.

Procedural changes to U.S in visa processing

The Consular Section of the United States diplomatic mission in The Gambia has announced some minor changes in its visa procedures at the US Embassy in Banjul.

The changes, due to take effect from 1st March 2011, will include new fees payment and appointment procedures for applicants for US visas.

Beginning 1st March 2011, the US Embassy announced, the visa fee can be paid at any ECOBANK or Reliance Bank branch as fee payment will no longer be accepted at Standard Chartered Bank.

Addressing a press conference convened by the embassy and held at the American Corner yesterday, the US Embassy Banjul Office Consular Officer, Michael K. Fitzpatrick, told journalists that applicants will no longer receive their appointment date at the bank.

“Instead, after paying the visa fee and submitting the visa application (DS-160) online, applicants will book their appointment either online or via telephone.

To schedule an appointment, individuals should visit http://www.ustraveldocs.com or may call 220-776-8017,” he said.

According to Consular Officer Fitzpatrick, all visa interviews at the US Embassy in Banjul are handled on an appointment basis only.

“Appointments can only be booked after March 1st 2011 through the website, and the telephone number provided above.

Additionally, individuals should use these two options to receive general information about a US visa, instead of contacting the consular section at the US embassy directly,” he added.

He said: “Applicants who have paid their visa fee at Standard Chartered Bank prior to March 1st 2011 but did not attend their interview should contact the Consular Section directly at consularbanjul@state.gov  from March 1st 2011.”

While commending the public for their understanding and co-operation through this transition, he urged people to note that an online visa application must be completed, and required visa application fees must be paid, before an appointment can be scheduled.

The improved services, Consular Officer Fitzpatrick added, will be of immense benefit to the applicants.

He told journalists that the US Embassy is striving to make the visa procedure more efficient and user-friendly, noting that, last year, the Embassy introduced the electronic application system.

He said they have also set up a call centre where applicants can now go to get general information about visas, schedule their appointment and to request appointment dates.

“Basically all the steps in appointment processes, the payment of visa fees will be handled through the call centre and the website,” he stated.

“After the individual has paid the visa fees and received a receipt from either Reliance or ECO Bank and submit their DS-I60 application online, and printed out the confirmation page, they can even call 220-776-8017 from Mondays to Fridays or log on http://www.ustraveldocs.com,” he further announced.

Michael Fitzpatrick is of the conviction that the changes will greatly improve the visa application process.

Source:  The Point