FG considers incentives for multinationals’ listing

First Vice President, The Nigerian Stock Exchange 
(NSE), Abimbola Ogunbanjo (left); Chief Executive Officer, 
NSE, Oscar N. Onyema; Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria,
 Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; President, NSE, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; and 
former President, NSE, Alhaji Aliko Dangote,
 during an interactive session with capital market stakeholders and 
closing gong ceremony at the NSE at the weekend


Operators want govt to incorporate brokers in economic team

The Federal Government has unfolded plans to consider introducing incentives aimed at attracting multinationals in telecoms, oil and gas to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo gave the assurance during a courtesy visit to the NSE in Lagos at the weekend.
According to him, government would encourage more companies to list on the NSE in order to spur activities in the market and create more wealth for the investing public.

Osinbajo said

the government would work with the NSE to promote the Nigerian stock market given the role of the exchange as an important driver of economic activities and investments.

He also stressed the need for more private sector engagement with the government to tackle the current economic challenges.“We will be acting a lot on the advice of the NSE council. Where the NSE council or the market makers think that there are things that may be done to make life easier in some way or to encourage listing in some way, we will be happy to listen to those,” he said.

He however ruled out direct government intervention in pushing privatised companies to list their shares noting that the decision to list by private companies will remain decisions of their boards and shareholders.
  
NSE’s Council President, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, who commended the vice president for the visit said that the exchange would work with the federal government to tackle challenges facing the market.

He added that the NSE would follow up on the federal government’s plans to grow and deepen the market.The doyen of stockbrokers, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, called for more interaction between the stock market community and the federal government to boost the economy.Yusuf decried some policies made by the government in the past, saying they are disincentives to the market.

He, however, applauded the present government for taken some bold steps in strengthening the economy, while urging them to incorporation a stockbroker to represent the market in government economic team.

“We want to have one of us on the federal government economic management team to ensure friendly policies that will lift the market forward,” Yussuf said.