CIS president unfolds agenda for 2020 conference

The president, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Olatunde Amolegbe, has unfolded the uniqueness of the Theme for 2020 Stockbrokers’ Conference against the current macroeconomic challenges militating against the country.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the high profile Conference, scheduled for Wednesday, November 4 and Thursday, November 5 by physical and virtual mode, is designed to address some of the fundamental economic challenges in Nigeria.
The Conference has the Theme: “Navigating through the Storms-Reenergizing the Economy through the Capital Market” with numerous sub-themes on contemporary issues in the financial market.

Responding to media enquiries, the Institute’s President, Olatunde Amolegbe explained that the Conference would sensitize all tiers of government, particularly, the Federal Government to leverage investment opportunities in the capital market to raise medium and long term capital to bridge the mounting infrastructure deficit.

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“The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated Nigeria’s fragile economy. The sharp drop in government revenue has made it more difficult for the government to weather the crisis. This resulted in a decline in consumption, aggregate demand, investment, net export and increasing government spending. The Federal Government had to review the budget downwards to N10.8tn. The trend informed our focus on how the Nigerian capital market can assist to bridge the infrastructure deficit and funding gap in the Country.

“We believe even with the 29percent allocation to capital expenditure –about N3.4trillion is not sufficient to bridge the gap given the neglect in the past compared to about $14 billion annual requirements so the capital market via the private sector can provide this support.

Our overriding objective for the Conference is to provide direction for both fiscal and monetary authorities to deploy expansionary policies for sustainable growth and development.
“Capital market provides better funding options in terms of cost and tenor, relative to bank loans. Our panelists shall also examine investment options for diversification of portfolios across asset classes and beyond the traditional asset classes. We plan to examine how the proposed CAMA 2020 will benefit the capital market as well as provide context on how The Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Demutualisation shall benefit the capital market stakeholders.

“This flagship Conference, the 24th edition and the first hybrid, is unique as the presentations shall generate raw materials for the government’s economic blueprint in this era of the tough operating environment. We have invited seasoned speakers from within and outside the country to provide their perspectives on the focus areas.