Mr Temi Popoola, Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), has emphasized the Exchange’s commitment to further improving the cost efficiency of capital market transactions. Popoola emphasized that NGX is actively engaging with intermediaries to push improvements collectively, providing a more cost-effective and efficient investment environment for both issuers and investors.
Popoola made the remarks during a presentation at the ongoing 2023 MTN Capital Markets Day. He said, “We are navigating this landscape by engaging our market intermediaries to explore how we can ease up these immediate expenses and shift perspectives to a longer-term focus. Using technology to lower this barrier to entry is also high on our priority list. A new issuance in our market today is comparatively prohibitive when compared to qualifying for a bank loan facility. We assure issuers that we are working hard to solve that conundrum.”
The NGX CEO emphasized the necessity of deliberate government lobbying and policies while recommending ways to further expand capital markets. The 2004 banking and pension reforms are classic examples of policies that had a significant impact on market growth.
Today, the financial services sector accounts for more than 60% of equity market turnover. This would not have been possible without the underlying policy that compelled banks to recapitalize through the capital market. Pension funds also contribute significantly to liquidity in our secondary markets.
