In order to grow the Nigerian economy in the next four years, government must focus more on partnering with the private sector, employment creation, education and population control.
Professionals in the Nigerian capital market who gathered in Lagos on Thursday for the bi-annual business lunch of the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) also said the Nigerian economy needs to be diversified and grown consistently at a higher rate than the population, while the capital market must grow its product offering and investor participation to channel long-term capital to productive use.
Chuka Eseka, president, AIHN, said the capital market is one of the barometers for measuring the wellness of the economy and advised the government to focus more on policy reforms that will liberalise the oil and gas sector, spur power sector optimisation and engender a private sector-led infrastructure development.
Mary Uduak, acting director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said the agenda for the capital market and the economy are complementary, urging the capital market to take opportunities in the infrastructure funds, Green Bonds, mortgage-related securities and also government-induced borrowings.
“We shall continue to introduce policy initiatives towards developing and regulating a capital market that is dynamic, fair, transparent and efficient to contribute to the nation’s economic development,” she said.
According to her, SEC is currently undertaking a review of its master plan to align it with current market realities.
Yewande Sadiku, executive secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), said the country must fix some fundamental structural problems via public sector reforms if it must attract any meaningful foreign investor. She called on the professionals in the capital market to continue to play an active role in nation-building by telling the government what to do.
Oscar Onyema, chief executive officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), advocated for declaration of a state of emergency on Nigeria’s alarming population growth rate, asking the government to address unemployment and make the nation competitive to attract more investment.
Available data from the World Bank reveal that Nigeria’s population is growing at 2.6 percent, higher than the 2018 gross domestic product growth of 1.9 percent, while unemployment rate soared from 18.8 percent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2017 to 23.1 percent in Q3 2018.
Similarly, foreign direct investment into the country slumped 58.75 percent to $156 million in Q4 2018 compared to $378.4 million recorded a year earlier, while foreign portfolio inflows stood at $1.39 billion, representing 59.89 percent decline from $3.48 billion achieved in the last quarter of 2017.
Onyema pointed out that the nation is currently being confronted with many challenges, particularly in the areas of health and education, noting that the challenges could worsen if Nigeria continues to grow its population at such rate.
“As we think of the economic solutions to these challenges, we should also think about the context in which those solutions will be applied, so addressing population is critical,” he said.
Speaking on the possibility of privatising the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alex Okoh, director-general, Bureau of Public Enterprises, who was represented by Yusuf Adamu from the bureau’s post transaction department, said NNPC is a holding company with many subsidiaries, adding that BPE would need the outcome of work on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), government pronouncement and some structural reforms before any division of the state-owned oil firm can be privatised.
AIHN is a self-regulatory body made up of bank and non-bank owned investment firms licensed to operate as Issuing Houses by SEC.
OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE & OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN
