CEM REPORT, TECHNOLOGY | The Federal Government has announced an intending collaboration with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to encourage startups to get listed through the newly created NGX Technology Board.
The government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy said it intends to diversify the economy from its heavy dependence on the oil sector.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, stated this during a tech event themed, “Invest in Africa’s Future- Let’s talk about exits”- a joint initiative by the Ministry, NGX, and Future Africa in New York, supported by Stanbic IBTC, CardinalStone Partners and Chapel Hill Denham.
He said the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration intends to explore technology and innovation by creating access to funding, enhancing digital infrastructure and easing the export of tech services.
“We cannot do all of this as a country if we do not prioritise innovation and encourage entrepreneurs to build. Nigeria is now open to investments.
“We want to prioritise the ability of our technology companies to export products and we are targeting Africa first and then eventually start selling to the rest of the world.”
Temi Popoola, Chief Executive Officer of NGX, on his part, said that NGX is keen to promote innovation in the capital market to potentially draw in more investors and mature tech businesses to list on its platform.
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He noted that the Exchange will work with the ministry to promote the objective of the government.
“We will continue to do a lot of work that makes us able to attract local capital and the day tech start-ups come to the exchange, we are confident that there would be a very good audience of investors that would want to own a bit of their shares.”
“This is what we at NGX are doing by removing all barriers for that to happen.”
He claimed that the need for private capital currently outnumbers the demand for public capital, while also revealing that the NGX is in discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on private markets to allow the exchange to do business with non-listed firms such as startups.
Nigerian tech start-ups attracted the most funding into the continent last year accounting for more than $976 million or 29.3 per cent of Africa’s total. In all, 180 businesses in the country raised that sum.
Listing on the tech board grants such companies access to additional capital from retail investors, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals to scale their operations.
