Business
Operators Back Alternative Stock Market
Some capital market operators last Thursday, said that the Alternative securities market being planned for the capital market would unlock investors’ funds trapped in private placements.
They said in Lagos that with proper education, the small businesses that floated private placements before the global economic meltdown would embrace the initiative.
The Chief Executive Officer, Lambeth Trust & Investment Company Ltd., Mr David Adonri, said that several enterprises would move their shares to the capital market through the platform.
Adonri lauded the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the introduction of new initiatives to deepen the capital market and increase its product varieties.
The Managing Director, Trust Yield Securities Ltd., Lagos, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, said that the exchange should embark on massive nationwide campaign on its benefits to SMEs.
Yussuf said that the SMEs needed to be guided and mentored for eventual listing on the nation’s bourse.
He said that the SMEs should be encouraged to work closely with their designated advisers for proper education of the listing and post-listing requirements.
According to him, the problems of some SMEs are management structure, improper records and lack of regulatory oversight.
He said that designated advisers would enable them identify their problems and proffer solutions to them.
A broker with Mega Securities, Mr Emma Ndu, said that the new initiative would allow issuers, especially indigenous companies, the opportunity to inject relatively low-cost and long-term capital into the SMEs.
Ndu said that indigenous companies could raise funds from the market under flexible rules that recognised their growth potential rather than their size of operation.
The NSE is introducing new structures for small companies, with potential for growth, to participate actively in the market.
The initiative is to enable small to medium companies have access to long-term capital under less stringent rules and requirements.
The NSE, had on April 5, unveiled 14 companies that would act as Designated Advisers (DAs) to the proposed Alternative Securities Market (ASeM).
The board will be launched on April 23.
The NSE said that the DAs would mentor the companies listed under ASeM to ensure their compliance to post-listing requirements.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
