Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, says digital innovations by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd., will attract technology unicorns to embrace capital market as a viable capital raising source.
Osinbajo made the assertion at the inaugural NGX Capital Market Conference, held virtually and physically in Abuja on Tuesday.
The conference was entitled: “The Future Ready Capital Market: Innovating for Nigeria’s Sustainable Recovery.”
According to Osinbajo, with the miracle and emergence of Nigerian unicorns, smart investors must be looking for how to become a part of the trend as about seven indigenous companies became billion dollars enterprises since 2015 in the midst of two recessions.
He commended the NGX for focusing on technologies and digital transformation of the market to bring a new crop of investors who used only their smart phones, citing the case of the banks and telecommunications companies.
Osinbajo also noted that there were several commendable feats by the NGX in the midst of challenges, specifically, the disruptions cause by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the birth of the new era of the capital market, also highlighting the challenges of operating in the macro-economic space.
“Today, the huge retail outlets created by the telecommunications companies with well over a 100 million subscribers and wide reach of banks, especially with the numerous financial inclusion that have been made within the past few years.
“Probably put us at the most auspicious moment for digitising the capital market to bring in millions of young retail investors.
“I think it is notable that you are already leveraging on your existing digital platforms to enable access to data and to enhance investor decisions,” he said.
Osinbajo noted that irrespective of the achievements so far, there was still room to possibly do much more to redefining the exchange for international competitiveness.
The Chief Executive Officer, NGX, Mr Temi Popoola, said the NGX was leveraging technologies and had not held any physical trading for almost two years.
Popoola explained that the drive by NGX for retail investors was so that the market would not be for a few but a place to create wealth for a wider population: “And to do this, we will be leveraging emerging trends.”
The chairman of BUA Cement, Mr Abdul Rabiu, said the conference was apt as it would afford deliberations on ways to address the infrastructural gaps and boost the economy, using the capital market as a veritable vehicle.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, said a country with a robust capital market would be economically productive, socially responsible and politically stable.
Amosun urged stakeholders to be concerned about making the capital market a hub for investments that would guarantee economic development and growth.
