FG to Compel Telcos, Oil Companies to List on NSE

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the federal government 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 Jonathan who spoke during a meeting with the capital market community at the NSE in Lagos, said his government attached much importance to the capital market, as it reflects significant performance of the nation’s economy and would do everything economically possible to make the market attractive to investors and issuers.

He said 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 that was to ensure that big companies operating in the economy and are benefiting make their shares available for Nigerians to invest in and benefit.

“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.

He said he had in the past held discussions with MTN during one of his visits to South Africa on the need to list their shares in Nigeria.

“When I met with MTN in South Africa, we discussed the need for them to list. We are working hard to make sure that companies that are supposed to list do so. That is the only way the Nigerian capital market and economy can grow and so that Nigerians can participate,” he said.

The president added that after a proper study of the situation, the government would come up the guidelines for the listing, disclosing that listing of companies would be one of the incentives.

“We will certainly come up with guidelines in that regard. It is only proper to study something and meet with technical experts before coming out with the final pronouncement on it. But we will definitely encourage most of these companies to list and make it a condition for them to benefit from government in some areas. You must do certain things properly. So, I believe we will give you what you want,” he said.

Jonathan assured the stockbrokers and executives of listed companies that the government would continue to partner the private sector and hand off the management of businesses in order to solely face the provision of an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

“We will continue to partner the private sector. We are moving away from where the government used to be the best manager of companies, best investors, to areas where the government will create the enabling environment for the private sector to manage the economy,” he said.