Minister advocates listing of telecoms companies on NSE

Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson

The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has called for the listing of more Nigerian companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, including companies in the telecoms and Information Technology industry.

Johnson, who made this call at a forum organised by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, tagged, ‘The NSE: Creating Wealth-Sustaining Legacies,’ said companies had a lot to gain from getting listed on the Exchange.

She informed participants at the forum that the telecoms sector is the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy, a statement from the ministry said on Sunday.

The minister said the sector, for the last five years, had been growing year-on-year at an average of 22-23 per cent and contributing 8.3 per cent to Gross Domestic Product as at the second quarter of 2013.

 “It is, therefore, appropriate that many more Nigerians should benefit from this success through increased public ownership of these companies that will happen when they are listed on the stock exchange,” she said.

The aim of the forum held at the NSE’s headquarters in Lagos is to highlight the benefits that companies, especially those operating in the telecoms and oil and gas sectors, can derive from getting listed on the NSE.

Of recent, there had been a call for more companies, especially those operating in the telecoms sector, to get listed on the Stock Exchange to further deepen the capital market, ensure long term sustainability and engender the survival of Nigerian companies beyond their original founders.

The move will also enhance transparency and corporate governance of companies operating in the country.

The minister said at the forum that the Stock Exchange was an important avenue for the Initial Public Offerings of ICT companies created through incubation centres and accelerators such as the newly established iDEA centres that are situated in Lagos and Tinapa (Calabar), which are expected to create at least 25 successful companies in the next two to three years.
- The Punch