FG To Plan Protocol For Telcos, Power Firms, On Stock Exchange

The federal government has announced that it will come up with guidelines that will encourage major companies in the oil and gas, telecommunications and power sectors of the Nigerian economy to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

President Goodluck Jonathan disclosed this at the stock exchange where he went to meet with capital market operators and ring the closing bell of the market.

President Jonathan said the government would come up with guidelines and incentives that would encourage the companies to list on the exchange, adding that the listing of the companies would not only enable Nigerians benefit from partly owning them, but also engender transparency and good governance in the companies.

“Something is wrong somewhere. I believe very clearly that the government and you (capital market operators and regulators) need to work together to look at these areas.

“There are leakages, for example, some of the companies that are operating in this country are not really disclosing what they are supposed to disclose. Companies that are supposed to be listed on the stock market are not listed, so their operations are not as transparent as they should be,” he said.

According to the president, as the biggest economy in Africa, the nation’s capital market ought to equally be the largest, adding that the only way to achieve this is to ensure that big companies operating in the economy and are reaping profits from the country, should make their shares available for Nigerians to invest.

“To give a scenario, America has the biggest GDP in the world and its capital market is also the biggest. South Africa when they were number one on the continent, their capital market was also number one.

“So why is it that today our GDP is number one and our capital market is second or third? We must therefore change that scenario,” he said.

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