Nigeria’s biggest insurer is seeing more demand from the government and employers of health workers for life cover as the coronavirus pandemic starts taking hold in Africa’s most populous country.
 
“Health workers are demanding it, other state governments and municipalities that didn’t have it before are now looking at it differently,” Leadway Assurance Co. Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Tunde Hassan-Odukale said in an interview in Lagos. "People who were not doing group life insurance before are now looking at it on a corporate basis."
 
Sales of group life policies have jumped 10% this year, and the trend is expected to continue with Covid-19 cases in Nigeria still on the rise, he said. This may help to counteract pressure on the firm's retail business, where individual life policies could be hit by a slowdown in economic activity because of lockdown measures to curb the spread of the disease…
 
More details through:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-15/swiss-re-backed-nigerian-insurer-sees-jump-in-sales-on-virus
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday said it was firming up its business portfolios in the power, medical, housing, and other sectors in order to strengthen its profitability.
 
NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru, quoted the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer, Ventures and Business Development, Roland Ewubare, as saying that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline network would enable the NNPC to deepen its footprint in the power sector through the establishment of an independent power plant.

​Ewubare said the NNPC would use its network of medical centres across the country to provide healthcare for Nigerians. He said, “The NNPC is creating an energy company that would have portfolios in renewable energy; we have initiatives on solar that are ongoing. We have got biofuels agreements with some state governments that would soon be activated…
 
More details through:
https://punchng.com/nnpc-invests-in-power-medical-housing-sectors/

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has announced that the apex bank is ready to support researchers, science-based institutions and biotechnology firms with $263 million (N100 billion) grant in the quest for a homegrown vaccine to fight Corona Virus (COVID-19) in Nigeria. 
 
The apex bank governor, who spoke at the commissioning of ThisDay Dome Testing, Treating, Tracing and Isolation Centre in Abuja, said the pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the global economy, impacting all nations big and small.
 
According to him, so far, the Coalition Against COVID-19, (CACOVID) has raised over N27billion to fund this initiative…
 
More details through: 
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/covid-19-cbn-ready-to-support-domestic-vaccine-production-with-n100b/
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As part of efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has ordered the immediate evacuation of all imported medical equipment from Nigerian ports. This is even as the President has given a blanket waiver of Customs duty on medical supplies.
 
The Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, disclosed this on Tuesday via his official twitter handle…
 
More details through:
https://punchng.com/buhari-stops-import-duty-on-medical-equipment/

The Federal Government and the government of Japan have signed an $18.2m grant agreement to strengthen the capacity of network laboratories of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
 
The move, according to a statement from the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, is to ensure accurate medical and laboratory investigations. Agba described the signing of the grant agreement as timely, against the backdrop of the recent outbreak of coronavirus that has become a global concern…
 
More details through:
https://punchng.com/fg-japan-sign-18-2m-pact-on-disease-control/

Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma has expressed his resolve to chart a roadmap for the development of the healthcare sector in the state. The Governor spoke on Tuesday, February 25, when he received in audience the American International Health Incorporated led by its Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Uche Nwaneri. Nwaneri, a professor and his team made a presentation to the Governor on “the Strategic Plan to Revitalise the Imo State Healthcare sector…
 
More details through:
https://businessday.ng/health/article/imo-govt-partners-american-international-healthcare-inc-on-healthcare-delivery/
 

The World Bank on Tuesday announced the approval of six development projects valued at about $2 billion for execution in Nigeria in 2020.
 
The World Bank said on Wednesday the approved projects are to support Nigeria’s development priorities focused on improving immunisation, providing an enabling business environment for the private sector, expanding the digital economy to promote job creation, and increasing the capacity of public and private sector on governance, social and environmental safeguards.
 
“Nigeria is central to the World Bank Group’s mission of tackling extreme poverty. The World Bank is carefully targeting its support on high impact projects as the country works to tackle corruption and lift 100 million of its people out of poverty,” World Bank Group President, David Malpass, said in the statement…
 
More details through:
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/health/health-news/378056-world-bank-approves-six-development-projects-for-nigeria-in-2020.html
 

Nigeria has imported N164.4billion ($454.27million) worth of drugs from three countries within the last two years. The imports were increased by 27.3 percent from $191.17million to $263.1million due to lack of implementation of national drug policy.
 
It was learnt that lack of incentives for local manufacturers and poor funding for research contributed to massive importation of drugs into the country.
 
Currently, 70 percent of drugs consumed in the country were imported as against the National Drug Policy 2005, which stipulates that 70 percent of the drugs consumed in the country should be produced locally, while 30 per cent is imported…
 
More details through:
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/value-of-nigerian-drug-import-surges-to-n164-4bn/

Kano State government is to spend $7.5 million (N2.7 billion) for procurement of water treatment chemicals aimed at ensuring potable water supply to millions of residents.
 
Muhammad Garba, the commissioner for information, told newsmen that the money has been approved by the state executive council which met on Monday. According to Garba, the decision was part of government’s resolve to provide clean water to the populace for domestic and other uses.
 
The commissioner said that the sum of N150 million has been approved as outstanding counterpart funds for Sanitation, Hygienic and Water Supply in Nigeria (SWAWN) II project across the state in collaboration with EU and UNICEF…
 
More details through:
https://businessday.ng/news/article/kano-to-spend-n2-7bn-on-water-treatment/
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The global direct medical costs of treating and managing hypertension are estimated at $370 billion yearly, according to Journal of Clinical Hypertension. Nigeria, with a population of over 180 million and a high prevalence of hypertension, contributes to the cost of managing this health challenge. However, while this has imposed a huge financial burden on hypertensive patients, the local market for hypertension drugs has literarily become a theatre of war for drug manufacturers and other care providers struggling for market dominance…
 
More details through:
https://thenationonlineng.net/nigerias-booming-market-for-hypertension-care/