NSE Boss Urges Entrepreneurs to Seek Capital Market Funding

Entrepreneurs and operators in the Nigerian entertainment industry have been urged to access the Nigerian capital market to raise long term fund in order to achieve the full potential of the industry.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema made the call yesterday at the Music Week Africa event hosted by the exchange in Lagos. According to him, the NSE was proud to be associated with an event that seeks to explore and develop the various aspects of the African and global music industry, with a view to creating jobs and wealth accumulation through the capital markets.

He said the African music landscape has grown significantly in the past few years while Nigeria’s entertainment and media market is the fastest-expanding major market globally. Onyema noted that by 2019, the market will be more than twice as big, with estimated total revenue of $8.1 billion, adding that annually, the Nigerian music industry produces thousands of albums of different genres of music.

The NSE CEO said substantial capital is required for the music industry to achieve its potential in Africa, noting that the NSE has positioned itself as the African exchange of choice for African issuers and global investors looking to use capital markets to raise both equities and debt capital.

“With a total market capitalisation of N15.7 trillion ($49.88 million) across all of our product categories, we have implemented far-reaching transformational policies aimed at strengthening and providing products that are aligned to investors’ requirements, improve market access, while ensuring a fair and orderly market. These deliverables have improved investor confidence and repositioned firms listed on the exchange as attractive investment opportunities,” he said.

Onyema encouraged the entertainment industry to look seriously at leveraging the opportunities that abound in the capital market in Nigeria, stressing that globally, long term growth is often achieved through public quotation on an exchange.

“We believe that this growth and more can only be achieved by having companies in the entertainment industry listed on the NSE.