The Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said it is planning to collaborate with Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to stimulate startup listings on the newly created NGX Technology Board. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, stated this during a tech event themed; Invest in Africa’s future- Let’s Talk About Exits”- a joint initiative by the Ministry, Future Africa and NGX in New York recently. Tijani noted that Nigeria has been grappling with its over dependence on oil in the last few years. adding that shifting away from a heavy reliance on a single sector like the oil industry often requires increasing productivity in other sectors which can be achieved through the application of technology and innovation, something the current leadership of President Bola Tinubu is particular about. Citing the reason for increased rating in Africa’s financial inclusion indices and rapid economic development, Tijani pointed out that technology came and leapfrogged from the need to build a lot of physical banks for people to have access to financial services to having multiple digital financial service applications. He added that the prioritisation of innovation and technology is crucial for countries like Nigeria and by extension, the broader African continent.
According to him, investment in research and development, fostering a culture of innovation and providing support for tech start-ups can help the continent harness the full potential of technology.
Listing his goals and ambitions, Tijani said the Ministry will work on creating a regulatory environment for fintechs, access to funding especially from angel investors, improve digital infrastructure, facilitate the export of trade of tech products and services and collaborate with NGX to create tailored listing options for start-ups.
The Minister said “We cannot do all of this as a country if we do not prioritise innovation and encourage entrepreneurs to build. Nigeria is now open to investments. We want to prioritise the ability of our technology companies to export products and we are targeting Africa first and then eventually start selling to the rest of the world”.
At the same event, the Chief Executive Officer, NGX, Temi Popoola, stated that the Exchange will work assiduously to support the agenda of the Honourable Minister and the goals of President Bola Tinubu. Whilst stating that technology is a big enabler of the capital market, Popoola said that NGX is keen on fostering innovation in the capital market, potentially to attract a larger pool of investors, especially mature tech companies to list on its platform.
Explaining the challenges around listings, he stated that the demand for private capital currently outweighs public capital while revealing that the NGX is in discussions with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in making some changes in its listing rules and regulations.
“We will continue to do a lot of work that makes us able to attract local capital and the day tech start-ups come to the exchange, we are pretty sure that there would be very good audience of investors that would want to own a bit of their shares and this is what we at NGX are doing by removing all barriers for that to happen”, the NGX CEO said.
Source: https://sunnewsonline.com/fg-ngx-to-promote-tech-startup-listings/