SEC says infrastructure development key to Nigeria’s growth

In fras truc ture development has been described as critical for the achievement of economy prosperity, sustainable growth and development of Nigeria.

Therefore, the need to attract private and domestic capital to fund and support critical infrastructure is paramount.

These among others were the resolutions reached at the end of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yearly budget seminar.

The seminar, which held in Lagos on Thursday February 13, 2020 had as its theme “Leveraging the 2020 Budget and Finance Act for the Growth of the Nigerian Capital Market.”

President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2020 budget to the National Assembly on October 8, 2019 which was eventually signed at a record time on December 17, 2019, with an approved budget of N10.6trillion.

Pa r t i c i p a n t s also recommended the provision of conducive business environment and credit enhancements for the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES) to thrive, because the SME sub-sector is one of the critical pillars for economic growth and national prosperity;

Ac c o r d i n g to the Communique at the end of the seminar, “There is need to create more hedging opportunities in the Nigerian capital market, as this has implication for market liquidity and efficiency;

“The government needs to work towards encouraging the participation of the private sector in the Nigerian business environment. The power and agricultural sectors are key sectors where indepth reform and partnership with the private sector are important. There should be partnership with the private sector to mobilise domestic resources, create quality jobs and lift people out of poverty”.

Participants agreed on the need to leverage technology for trade and focus on adding value to the agricultural sector which is currently very low-paying. This sector they posited needs to become more beneficial to those involved and can be done through means such as provision of power for crop preservation, thus eliminating post-harvest losses.

In her opening address, Acting Director General of the SEC, Mary Uduk emphasised the important role that budgets play in an economy, and by extension in the capital market.

This importance Uduk said, is actually the basis on the seminar is organised to analyse the risks and opportunities presented by the government budget.

She said over the years, the SEC Budget Seminar Series has served as a forum for evaluating the connection between the Nigerian capital market and the annual Federal Government budget, with the aim of identifying how the capital market can contribute to, and benefit from, the budget and its implementation.