•NGX Group Boss Urges President To Champion Capital Market Reforms

Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday urged foreign investors to bring their capital into the country as his government is working on easing the free flow of capital.
Tinubu spoke just before ringing the Closing Bell of NASDAQ, New York, a ceremony organized by United States Chamber of Commerce, Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) and Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC).
Addressing the investors, Tinubu said his administration is actively working on reducing bottlenecks to ease the free flow of capital for investors, noting that “it is not about if Nigeria is open for business, it is about who wants to do business with Nigeria. Our administration has moved the exchange rate regime to a managed float and removed fuel subsidy. I call on you to come and invest in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Alhaji (Dr) Umaru Kwairanga, urged the president to lead capital market reforms that will drive the actualization of his mandate of double-digit economic growth for Nigeria.

So far, he assured, “the country has made significant strides. The removal of fuel subsidies and liberalization of the foreign exchange market have boosted confidence in our capital market, with the Nigerian Exchange Limited’s All-Share Index surging by 29.04% since inauguration.”
While this represents success, Kwairanga said “significant opportunities lie ahead and the capital market is in more need of reforms that can further unlock increased prosperity for the Nigerian economy. Citing the reforms.”
The chairman highlighted such reforms as legislative adjustments that will make listing more attractive and urged the president to champion the reforms.

Kwairanga also called for deepening of pension reforms and amendments to regulations governing free zone companies to facilitate their access to the capital market through listings.
He further urged Tinubu to work towards enacting policies that would enable dollar-denominated transactions to attract further capital into the country, just as he nudged the US business community to explore more partnership avenues with Nigeria.
The closing bell ceremony was part of events lined up in the NGX Roadshow, supported by Stanbic IBTC, CardinalStone Partners and Chapel Hill Denham.