By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma
The Federal Government on Friday says it will consider introduction of incentives to ensure listing of multinationals and telecommunication companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President, said this during a courtesy visit to the NSE in Lagos.
Osinbajo said government would encourage more companies to list on the NSE in order to create prosperity for the investing public.
He said that the new investors of the privatised state-owned-assets had the prerogative to go public, but the government could persuade the boards to list.
He said that government would work with the NSE and encourage an incentive regime to ensure listing of more companies on the NSE to create deepen the market.
The vice president said that partnership with the broker-dealer community was needed to tackle the current economic challenges.
Osinbajo stated that government would also support private sector partnership, noting that private sector held the economy.
He said that private sector must work hand in hand with the government to tackle the country’s economic challenges.
“We must see ourselves as partners working together to move our nation forward,” Osinbajo stated.
Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, NSE Council President, commended the vice president for the visit and promised that the NSE would work with the Federal Government to overcome economic challenges.
Aig-Imoukhuede said that the NSE had consulted with Osinbajo over time on difficult issues in the market and the economy.
He stated the NSE would follow up on the federal government’s plans for the market.
He said that the vice president had given hope and confidence to the market community to overcome economic and financial market challenges.
“We are going through difficulty times no doubt but very soon we will see better times,” Aig-Imoukhuede stated.
Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, the doyen of stockbrokers, said that the present government had taken some bold steps to strengthen the economy.
Yussuf commended the vice president for the role playing in ensuring listing of multinationals and oil were listed on the exchange.
He called for proper interaction between the stock market community and the federal government to ensure growth and development of the economy.
Yussuf who is also the Managing Director, Trust Yields Securities Ltd., urged Osinbajo to ensure incorporation of one of the stockbrokers in the 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.
He said that most of the policies taken in the past were not investor friendly, noting that, the capital market was a barometer for any economy.
