•Say market in need of devt
By Chinwendu Obienyi
President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Oluwole Adeosun, has listed key areas that the incoming administration of Bola Tinubu should address to strengthen the Nigerian capital market and reposition it for accelerated growth and development of the economy.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 Presidential Election, Tinubu, the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), has received the certificate of return as the Nigerian President elect.
Adeosun in a statement explained that the incoming administration should pay close attention to the capital market in order to maximise its opportunities. He noted that both the capital and money market should receive balanced attention from the Federal Government to promote unified exchange rate of the Naira and stronger encourage participation of foreign investors.
He said, “The fundamentals of the market are getting stronger day by day as a result of many reasons. The elections actually excited the market, because of the imminent positive changes we are expecting, irrespective of which of the top candidates won. It signals great expectation and trust. We expect the new president and his government to hit the grounds running before the inauguration by immediately opening engagement with the capital market community, as that will help in crafting an effective plan of action for the administration. We expect a stable and unified exchange rate which will increase the level of foreign investors’ participation in our market. We also expect policy and positive pronouncements that will boost the confidence of stakeholders
“First, is to properly situate the capital market in the scheme of things in the Nigerian economy. The capital and money markets must receive balanced attention for the economy to grow maximally, even optimally as the capital market provides the barometer that measures the state of the economy. Second is to address the issue of trading liquidity. Get the banks and CBN to give more support to Capital Market Operators.
“We have to revisit margin lending /trading in the financial markets.Furthermore, persuade the pension funds to invest a lot more on equities, to create that stability that will motivate other high networths to invest. Also to make the exchange rate stable to spur foreign investments. The government should lend more support to investor literacy, and specifically support CIS with annual grants to enable it perform and widen its work in this area.
According to him, despite the market gaining over N600 billion last week, the reality is that all the three frontline candidates for this election are pro-market activists, so the capital market is actually excited that there will be a positive transition in leadership, from market policy point of view.
“Investors are also positioning in expectation of good dividends, especially from banking stocks, whose corporate actions are being expected. Based on historical records, competitive dividend yields may be in the offing. In addition high cap stocks like MTN, Geregu and Dangote Cement are majorly responsible for the upswing.”, Adeosun said.