Oscar Onyema Speech At The NSE, Bloomberg CEO Roundtable Discuss  

Accomplished business leaders Representatives of the Stockbroking Community and Listed firms here present Ladies and gentlemen.

I am pleased to welcome you to the NSE Bloomberg CEO Roundtable themed “Innovating out of Nigeria’s Recession: Exploring New Paradigms for Nigeria’s Economic Growth”.  We will like to acknowledge our partners, Bloomberg, who have worked with us tirelessly in putting this together. The idea is that Bloomberg given its global reach and its knowledge of worldwide trends brings insights which when paired with our domestic insights will provide Nigerian businesses and policy makers with requisite knowledge to properly anticipate trends that will affect the Nigerian economy and position us to extract value.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we are excited to have all of you at this edition of the NSE Bloomberg CEO Roundtable. We shall discuss the economy, financial services, portfolio investments and manufacturing as we begin to position ourselves to maximize the opportunities arising from the emerging recovery of the economy.

Our collaboration with Bloomberg to hold a yearly CEO Roundtable was borne out of the need to bring leaders from various sectors of the economy to discuss and proffer solutions to pertinent issues affecting their sectors and examine global trends applicable to them.

At NSE, we are encouraged by the insights that have been generated from the two previous editions of this event, and have worked with policy makers, regulators and operators to address key action items such as: FX accessibility, double taxation, and ease of doing business. We have recorded mixed results, but continue to see significant actions from policy makers in this regard.

From a legal and regulatory perspective, we have also engaged actively with other stakeholders to move forward the CAMA, Demutualization, Investment and Securities Act (ISA) bills, and other bills currently receiving legislative attention that will create the right framework for business to thrive in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange continues to position itself not only to be a credible platform for raising capital, but to be a hub for innovative and creative ideas. For example we have introduced a few initiatives such as the Green Bonds and FGN Savings Bond into the market. We have automated the mechanism for trading rights issues on the Exchange and continue to work towards the launch of exchange traded derivatives. We recently launched X-Academy, our financial literacy and inclusion platform designed to provide education services to individuals who want to gain a better understanding of various aspects of the capital markets.

Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you all to participate fully in the ensuing discussions, pay close attention to the many solutions and initiatives proffered and then proceed to leverage them in innovating and enhancing efficiencies in your different organisations. I am confident that the learnings from our interactions during this CEO Roundtable will elevate our business strategies to take advantage of the tailwinds emerging in our economy and unlock its growth potential.

Oscar N. Onyema, OON