By Matthew Don
The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) is set for its National Workshop which is scheduled for Tuesday, July 4 in Abuja. The workshop is themed “Transiting from Recession to Global Power: A Working Template for Nigeria”.
Though, investor confidence is gradually returning as can be seen by the positive numbers at the capital market in recent weeks, before now the macro-economic instability impacted trading on the Nigerian bourse.
“The capital market has been on a rebound in 2017, especially, from the end of the first-quarter till now. Recent initiatives taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to solve the problem of chronic scarcity of forex has boosted the economy and the capital market in particular,” Umaru Kwairanga, chairman, organizing committee of the workshop told journalists at a media briefing ahead of the workshop. He said the theme of the Workshop is consistent with CIS collective belief that what has happened in the last year is an aberration.
CIS is hopeful that the Acting President, Yemi Osibanjo will deliver the key note address, while the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and her counterpart on Budget, Trade and Investment will all attend the workshop. They will be accompanied by other notable personalities from the executive and legislative arms of the government.
“The workshop will be practical and offers implementable strategies on a wide ranging variety of problems holding our economy back. It will therefore not be just another talk shop. One of the key issues that would engage the participants is how the Federal Government can put in place policies and mechanisms to make the capital market a viable option to fund the budget deficit”, according to the organizing committee of the workshop.
“The All Share Index has swung into positive territory after months of persistent declines and trading volumes have increased dramatically in the last couple of months. I would say the Nigerian Capital Market has done quite well in the last couple of months,” Kwairanga noted.
In view of the foregoing and the need to encourage the government to leverage on the capital market to finance this year’s budget deficit; it has become imperative to create a platform such as the Workshop for cross fertilization of ideas.
“Nigeria with its bountiful human and material resources and untapped opportunities should be on a consistent growth trajectory to taking its rightful place as a global power. Some mistakes were however made over the years especially in the last four decades that have consistently held back our potential”, Kwairanga said.
CIS believes that with the right strategies in place and proper implementation, it can reset this country and fast track it to its rightful place in the comity of nations. “We see the recession as a temporary blip and are confident that with the right template, we can attain our rightful status as a global power.”
“The Theme will also elicit a viable working template that the managers of the economy can leverage on to drive growth in the country. We anticipate that speakers will come up with feasible and workable strategies for important organs of government and the private sector to implement in order to drive momentum in various sectors. This will benefit the economy, the citizenry and ultimately the capital market as the capital market is but a barometer of the economy.
“There is no gain saying that when an economy is vibrant and growing, the capital market will mirror this. If otherwise, the market will equally reflect the situation. I must be quick to add that our market is forward looking,” he stated.
The workshop organizing committee said that the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mounir Gwarzo would be speaking on the Capital Market Master plan and its contributions to National Development to be supported by Capital Market Guru Tola Mobolurin, Chairman, Capital Bancorp Plc.
“We have also scheduled a session to discuss how an enabling environment can be created for public listing of the economy’s commanding heights such as the companies in the telecoms and upstream oil. In order to ensure a robust Workshop, the President of The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Aigboje Aig Imoukhuede, the CEO, Oscar Onyeama, the CEO of FMDQ, Bola Onadele Koko, NBA President, A B Mahmoud, the DG DMO, Abraham Nwankwo, and the Managing Director of MTN Nigeria will all participate. We are also expecting foremost businessman, Aliko Dangote and the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki to be available to share their experiences with us,” CIS stated.