By Goddy Egene
Members of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday approved the listing of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGXG) on the exchange once the demutualisation process is completed.
The approval was given at the 59th annual general meeting (AGM) and under the resolution passed subject to the receipt of requisite approvals of relevant regulatory authorities, following the conversion and re-registration of NGXG, the group is authorized to undertake a listing by introduction of its shares on stock exchange. Consequently, the NSE will no longer be wholly owned by its dealing and non-dealing members.
The approval by members has cleared the way for the listing of NGXG and for a new structure that will enable the exchange to realize its vision of becoming Africa’s leading exchange hub. .
Commenting, President of the National Council of the NSE, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, said: “The National Council welcomes the strong endorsement by the members of the exchange for our listing plans. On behalf of the Council we wish to thank the exchange’s management for their outstanding work in the previous year, when they have faced unprecedented challenges such as the Coronavirus pandemic. It is a tribute to their efforts that The Exchange has continued to work effectively and at the same time has made significant progress in pursuing its strategic development through listing and other steps.”
Also commenting, the Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said: “We would like to thank the membership of the exchange for their overwhelming support of the listing plans. This marks the beginning of the exchange’s transformation into a listed company with flexibility to raise additional equity and/ or debt capital. It is our aim that under this new structure, the Nigerian capital markets will be able to play a role that is commensurate with Nigeria’s status as Africa’s biggest economy. We believe we can become a financial hub for Africa and with the backing of our stakeholders and their continued use of our services this objective can become a reality.”
Members had last March unanimously approved the NSE’s demutualisation at its court ordered meeting. The demutualization of the exchange is subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange (SEC) of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the market closed on positive note yesterday as the bulls returned pushing the NSE All-Share Index by 1.7 per cent to be at 34,818.01 while market capitalisation added N300.5 billion to be at N18.2 trillion.
