President Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria can achieve economic prosperity if the country’s stock market continues to perform strongly, following the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation reaching N160 trillion.
Gatekeepers News reports that Tinubu spoke on Thursday when he received the board and management of NGX Group at the State House in Abuja.
The delegation, led by Umaru Kwairanga, chairman of NGX Group, and Temi Popoola, the group’s managing director and chief executive officer, briefed the president on developments in Nigeria’s capital market since he assumed office in May 2023.
Popoola said the value of listed equities had risen from about N30 trillion in 2023 to N160 trillion, while the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) increased from approximately 52,000 points to 244,000 points.
Reacting to the figures, Tinubu said the performance of the stock market reflected the broader direction of the Nigerian economy and validated his administration’s economic reforms.
“If the stock market is doing well, then we are doing well,” the president said.
“We can teach this in classrooms to our undergraduates. If they can be in the classroom without the harrowing feeling of how to pay and what to pay, then we can build a nation of success and prosperity.”
Tinubu said improving economic indicators and increasingly positive assessments of Nigeria’s economy by experts suggested a brighter outlook for the country.
“I found a partner in the CBN governor, Yemi Cardoso. We were in the negative with monetary policy and the reserve. We had N30 trillion printed, and there were liabilities. I thank you very much, Yemi Cardoso,” he said.
“The rest of the team, we owe a duty to the country and our self-belief that this is doable. Nigeria can build a nation of prosperity by itself.”
The president said the private sector would remain critical to achieving his administration’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy, assuring investors of continued government support.
He also disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited would be reformed and eventually listed on the capital market.
Tinubu commended members of his economic management team, including Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy; Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning; Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); and Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the National Revenue Service (NRS), for their role in implementing reforms aimed at stabilising the economy.
NGX market cap could hit N230trn by year-end
Giving an update on the market’s outlook, Popoola said the value of listed equities could rise to N230 trillion before the end of the year, driven by new listings.
“The picture today is that when you took office in 2023, the total value of stocks listed in Nigeria was just shy of N30 trillion. Today, Mr President, that figure is N160 trillion,” he said.
“By the end of this year — with the listing that we are seeing in our market — we expect that figure to rise to N230 trillion.”
Popoola said the stock market rally had generated substantial wealth for investors, estimating that between 500,000 and 900,000 millionaires had been created as a result of the reforms.
“We estimate that about 500,000 to 900,000 millionaires have been created as a result of reforms,” he said.
The NGX chief executive also said other African exchanges were increasingly looking to Nigeria as a model for capital market development.
Kwairanga attributed the market’s strong performance to the administration’s economic reforms, saying Nigeria had the capacity to achieve its target of becoming a $1 trillion economy before 2030.
Oyedele, on his part, described the Nigerian capital market as the best-performing in the world, attributing its growth to reforms implemented over the past three years.
“The stock market has experienced significant growth over the past few years, especially in the last three years as a result of the reforms in the economy,” the minister said.
“The capital market is one of the fastest ways to create wealth for millions of Nigerians.”
He urged the NGX and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to simplify the listing process and encourage more young Nigerians to invest in the capital market rather than speculative assets.
Cardoso said the successful recapitalisation of the banking sector had also boosted investor confidence, noting that domestic investors accounted for about 75 percent of the capital raised.
“A lot of people didn’t think it was possible, and now it was done very successfully,” the CBN governor said.
He added that greater economic stability would attract more investment, which in turn would stimulate growth and positively impact the real sector of the economy.
