The Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Mary Uduk, at the weekend said the private sector is a key driver of growth and development in any economy while creating jobs and paying taxes that finance government activities and investments.
Speaking at the inauguration of the SEC Private Equity Committee in Abuja, Uduk said the inauguration is ahead of the planned National Private Equity Summit, an epoch-making event which she noted, underscores one of the commission’s objectives of facilitating proper understanding.
Represented by Acting Executive Commissioner Corporate Services of the SEC, Henry Rowlands, Ms. Uduk said the event will also help the government appreciate the importance of private sector activities as key drivers of private sector-led economic growth.
She said the Nigerian government recognises the importance of private sector-led economic growth, following which it has put in place several partnerships and initiatives with the private sector so as to achieve optimal economic growth.
According to her, “the private sector remains the key driver of economic growth with the federal government providing enabling framework to galvanise and support private sector investors and participants through such vehicle as private equity funds.
“A McKinsey report highlights this fact by its data that reveals that private equity net assets grew as much as 70% from 2002 till 2018 and twice as fast as public equities. This underscores the high growth rate of private sector investment through private equity funds operations,” she stated.
Continuing, the Acting DG said with a provision for allocation of $250m of the pension assets under management as private equity investment, there lies a huge potential for the sector to drive the economic growth potentials of the Nigerian economy.
Uduk used the “opportunity to sincerely appreciate Henshaw Capital and Partners for this initiative and all the institutions and agencies that have accepted to participate in this working committee.”
Also speaking at the occasion, Efiok Ekpenyong Efiok, Head, Investment Management Department of the commission, said the Private Equity Committee is driven by Henshaw Capital Partners in collaboration with key financial sector stakeholders, Federal Government, and private sector institutions.
He listed the institutions to include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF), National Pensions Commission (Pencom), the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), and Nigerian Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).
According to Efiok, the committee is saddled with the task of organizing the Nigerian Private Equity Summit as a way of galvanizing the country’s private equity ecosystem to proactively articulate, expand and harness opportunities.
“In line with this principle objective as articulated in the proposal document, the summit aims among others to raise awareness of the private equity opportunity to meet a significant portion of the financing needs of Nigeria’s exponential growth companies” he added.
Photo caption: Members of the SEC Private Equity Committee with Henry Rolands, Acting Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services, Securities and Exchange Commission (7th right), during the inauguration committee in Abuja at the weekend.
