The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Temi Popoola has stated that digital transformation is the next phase of growth for NGX considering its laudable achievements in digitization and digitalization so far. This was expressed at the Nigeria Tech/FinTech Conference hosted by Renaissance Capital on Thursday, 9 September 2021 where Popoola was part of a panel discussion.
Speaking at the event, Popoola reflected on technology at The Exchange, noting that, “If you think about The Exchange, our interaction with technology will be around digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation. What you will find is that we are extremely digitised and digitalised both internally and the way stakeholders consume our products and services.
This is evidenced by the fact there has been no physical trading on the floor of The Exchange for over one year, yet we have experienced zero downtime in trading activities. The next phase is therefore digital transformation where we can ensure that the last-mile delivery of our products and services is digitised and consumed through technology. A priority for us at this time is also to improve the ease of access to investment opportunities for all classes of investors.”
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Looking at the listing opportunities within the technology ecosystem, it is clear that capital is being formed and it is imperative for NGX to being to facilitate this. While a lot of funding in this sector happens at the earlier stages, NGX is undeterred by the fact that listing typically happens at the more mature stages of capital raising.
Popoola provided insights into what NGX is doing in this regard saying, “Already, NGX has the Growth Board which is home to fast-growing companies, but we recognise that there is more to be done. Our approach is to begin to relook our rules and boards that may not necessarily be acceptable to players within the technology industry. We see that capital being raised in this space is mostly foreign, and we want to position ourselves to be more accommodating of the evolving landscape whilst developing the right market architecture.
One thing that is however interesting to note is that the FinTech ecosystem has increased awareness around the capital market and the opportunities in personal investing. The next step for NGX would, therefore, be to look at the landscape and begin to leverage advancements that will help the capital raising, trading and settlement processes to democratise finance in Nigeria. Evidently, NGX is positioned to spur the next wave of growth and development in Nigeria which is technology, and the market looks forward to announcements in this regard.
