Business
Capital Market Favours Domestic Investors – Sec
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says domestic investors have a higher stake in the Nigerian capital market than their foreign counterparts.
The Director-General of SEC, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, who disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, said enlightenment programmes were being intensified to bring in more of the retail investors.
“In terms of absolute number, the domestic investors have a higher stake than the foreign investors and we are doing a lot of public enlightenment programmes particularly to bring in the retail investors.
“Our research shows that we have less than two per cent of retail investors in our market.
“Whereas if you look at other jurisdictions – Malaysia has nine per cent, South Africa has 19 per cent, US has 43 per cent and UK has 37 per cent of retail investors
“So, part of the reasons why I am here is to solicit the support of the News Agency of Nigeria in terms of our public enlightenment with respect to e-dividend and other initiatives.
“So that we will be able to bring back the retail investors,’’ Gwarzo said.
The SEC boss said that foreign investors seemed to be dictating the pattern of the market in the country because they were more of portfolio investors, who buy and sell.
“Whereas, the domestic investors – both the institutional investors – are retail, particularly the institutional investors, particularly the pension funds.
“So that is why you see that whenever the foreign investors now either sell or buy, the market reacts.
According to Gwarzo, institutional investors particularly the pension funds have been doing quite well.
He explained that a new guideline would soon be released by PENCOM that would encourage Pension Fund Administrators to invest more in the capital market.
He said, “because they do not have a board that is why those new guidelines have not been released yet.
“So I believe in the next couple of years and with the massive public enlightenment we are making to bring back the retail investors and with the dynamism we are seeing from the PENCOM.
“Particularly to bring in the pension investors, I am sure the dominance of the domestic investors particularly in the areas of portfolio investments will increase.
Gwarzo explained that the recent set back experienced in the capital market was because the regulators and stakeholders failed in their duties.
“The market has largely recovered; the Central Bank of Nigeria, Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators like the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the operators have learnt from their mistakes.
“It happened because both parties did not do what is right, and like I said, we have learnt our lessons and that is why now things are much better.
“We have put some of the precautionary measures that hopefully, such things would not happen again particularly the magnitude with which the market went down.’’
Gwarzo said investing pension funds in the capital market was ideal, adding that in most countries of the world, the major investors in the capital market were the pension funds.
“When we say that pension funds should come in, we are not saying that they should just go and invest in any kind of security.
“There are lots of stocks in the market that are also quite stable that you can also say probably in the next 100 years those stocks will still be there.
“There are good stocks like Nestle, whose products we use on a daily basis and most of them are now going through backward integration in terms of their sources of raw materials.
“So they are going to be quite sustainable,’’ he said.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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