The Chief Executive Officer of the NGX, Temi Popoola of the Nigerian Exchange Limited has called on the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to prioritise listed companies in their procurement processes and access to foreign exchange.
Speaking at the last MTN Capital Markets Day, Popoopla said this approach would encourage more companies to list on the Exchange and mitigate the prevalent FX challenges in the economy.
“The singular biggest thing that can be done to change the face of the capital market is not investment bankers wearing suits and knocking on the doors of companies for the next listing but really intentional advocacy”
“There are companies that would like to list on our Exchange, but they earn in dollars, their revenue to their bottom line is in dollars. There are also listed companies that would like to pay their dividends in dollars. However, the current regulation does not allow that.
“We are working with regulators and policymakers to try to address that because this would create a lot more benefit to the government which is looking for FX resolutions to their challenges. We believe this will also unlock the dollars that people have saved in domiciliary accounts to be put into useful work in the capital market and economy.”