Nigeria Stock Exchange to list

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been given a green light by its members to become a publicly listed company, it said this week.

The members also approved the appointment of South African bank FirstRand and local investment firm Chapel Hill Denham to guide it through the process of becoming a listed company, the NSE said.

The second-biggest bourse in sub-Saharan Africa after Johannesburg and a main entry point for investors in Africa, the NSE is owned by stockbrokers and some institutional investors.

It has around 200 listed companies, all included in its bench-

The second-biggest bourse in sub-Saharan Africa after the JSE and a main entry point for investors in Africa, the NSE is owned by stockbrokers and some institutional investors.

mark share index.

As a first step, the NSE will change its ownership structure from a mutual company of brokers to add new shareholders.

NSE president Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said this demutualisation “will bring the Nigerian capital market on a par with other international jurisdictions, result in enhanced governance (and) transparency”.

The equities market in Nigeria, now Africa’s largest economy, was until 2013 one of the world’s best performing frontier markets but low liquidity levels and currency restrictions have since deterred foreign investors.

The value of trading on the bourse declined by 22.3% to 74.1 billion naira (R3.15 billion) in February from a month before, as foreign buyers stayed on the sidelines.

Nigerian shares have lost 5.2% so far this year after a 6.2% fall last year. –Reuters