As many as 10 companies listed on the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited between 2018 and 2022, pushing up the market capitalization by 6.08 trillion naira.
To this end, the 10 listed companies have further boosted liquidity in the Nigerian capital market and provide opportunities for wealth creation. In addition, listings have increased the visibility of companies to investors on the African continent and around the world.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange provides access to capital to Nigerian and international companies, from small caps and growth-oriented companies to more established companies looking to use the capital market to fund their business and expansion strategies.
Data obtained from NGX showed that 10 new companies were listed during the period under review.
In 2018, Notore Chemical Industries Plc listed 1.61 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N62.50 per share, representing a market capitalization of N100.75 billion. NGX admitted N6.29 billion of Skyway Aviation Handling Company shares, N1.83 trillion of MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) shares and N1.36 trillion of Airtel Africa shares on its trading platform in 2019, while N1.18 trillion Naira of BUA Cement shares listed on NGX in 2020.
In 2021, N840.260 billion worth of shares in Guaranty Trust Holding Companys (GTCO), N7.371 billion worth of shares in Ronchess Global Resources, N34.861 billion worth of shares in Nigerian Exchange Group and N62.6 million worth of shares in Bricklinks Africa was listed on NGX, while in 2022 so far, BUA Foods has listed 720 billion shares on NGX.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX), earlier this year, said it would focus on five major areas during the year as the exchange seeks to deepen access and attract a new generation of investors on the market.
NGX CEO Mr. Temi Popoola said the exchange will drive growth in 2022 by focusing on five strategic areas, including leveraging digital transformation, listings and delistings, technology, partnerships and durability.
Popoola said NGX will seek to cement its historic status with a new verve of digitization by creating innovative and automated market access while ensuring the overall quality of listed companies and the ease of the capital raising process.
According to him, the Exchange would roll out strategic initiatives to attract financial technology (Fintech) companies to the stock market, including the launch of a Nasdaq-style board for listing technology companies.
APT Securities & Funds Limited CEO Mallam Garba Kurfi attributed the listing of MTNN and Airtel Africa to the achievements of the current government, saying: “For many years everyone has worked to bring the telecommunications company on the capital market. One of the main achievements of this current administration has been to convince MTN Nigeria to list on the Stock Exchange.
He noted that “for bringing MTN Nigeria to the capital market, he lured Airtel Africa to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Now we have BUA Foods and BUA Cement listed on the stock exchange.
“These four companies represent around 50% of the market capitalization and they were all listed under the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We hope that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), since it is now a limited liability company, will also be listed. Buhari signed the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) bill which took us 18 years in law and I wish NNPC was listed as well. They promised two years and there is one year left for NNPC to be listed on NGX. We had planned for refineries, Nigeria LNG Ltd (NLNG), among others, to be listed.
Chief Operating Officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omoriodon said, “The Nigerian Stock Exchange provides access to long and medium term finance for structured businesses. The Exchange is positioned to help multinational and local companies and a wide range of investors gain a global view of the capital market, as well as to guide investors and companies in making sound investment and financing choices. .
He noted, however, that “the current market fragmentation is not the best for our market; we need a standardized market where we have companies from all sectors of the economy listed so that no one company or a few companies dominate and dictate the movement of the market as we know it now.
He added that “the listing of MTN Airtel Africa, Airtel Africa and BUA Cement was a welcome development which reduced the dominance and control of Dangote Cement. Government and market regulators should encourage companies to register and participate.
“Developing the right policies to stimulate economic growth and encourage small businesses to register by reducing the cost of registration and publication requirements are key to solving this problem.”
