Economy
Demutualisation: Nigerian Exchange Group Plc to Register 2.5 Billion Shares
By Adedapo Adesanya
There was excitement on Tuesday in Lagos when 257 members unanimously voted for the demutualisation of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) at the Court Ordered Meeting (COM).
This also gave the exchange the authority to register a total share capital of N1.250 billion, comprising 2,500 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The 257 members who voted for the demutualisation constituted 251 members by proxy and six by self, and this means that the 60-year old bourse will be converted to a public limited liability company, the 57th exchange in the world to follow the path.
To be re-registered as the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, there will be a transfer of its securities exchange license and other assets required to carry out the securities function to Nigerian Exchange Limited.
This means there will also be an establishment of a separate subsidiary company to be charged with the regulatory functions of the exchange post-demutualisation to be called NGX Regulation Limited.
It was disclosed that there will be allotment of 1,964,115,918 ordinary shares to Dealing Members and Ordinary Members on the basis of a ratio of 78:22, respectively.
The provision of Claims Review Shares totalling 40,083,999 ordinary shares, representing 2 percent of the Issued Shares of Nigerian Exchange Group will be set aside for allotment to parties who are adjudged as being entitled to shares in the demutualised exchange
The demutualisation, upon completion, will see the transfer of the assets of NSE Consult Limited, NSE Nominees Limited and Coral Properties Limited, the subsidiaries of the NSE to the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.
After the end of the court ordered meeting, an Extraordinary General Meeting was held to set up a 12-man board of directors ffor the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.
Those nominated and appointed were Mr Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Chairman and Non-Executive Director; Mr Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director; Mr Umaru Kwairanga, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mrs Fatimah Bintah Bello-Ismail, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mr Oluwole Adeosun, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mr Chidi Agbapu, Member and Non-Executive Director; Mr Patrick Ajayi, Member and Non-Executive Director; and Mr Okechukwu Crescent Itanyi, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director.
Others included Mrs Nimi Akinkugbe, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director; Mr Enase Okonedo, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director; Mr Ikpobe Apollos Oghooritsewarami, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director; and Mrs Ojinika Nkechinyelu Olaghere, Member and Independent Non-Executive Director.
According to the CEO, Mr Oscar Onyema, “Today’s meetings move the demutualization process significantly forward and the positive outcomes affirm the great interest from members to support the pivotal restructuring of the exchange to become globally competitive.”
“In furtherance of our plans, we will move to file the necessary resolutions from the court ordered meeting and all other required documents at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), obtain the Court Order sanctioning of the Scheme, complete all necessary registrations and seek the final approval from the SEC to ultimately demutualise,” he added.
On his part, the President of the National Council and now inaugural Chairman post-demutualisation, Mr Abimbola Ogunbanjo, who presides over meetings expressed his pleasure at the outcome.
“I feel elated that 19 years after initiating the process to demutualize and on the 60th anniversary of the Exchange, we are close to achieving the goal.
“The successful demutualization of the Exchange was one of my main objectives when I assumed the Presidency of the Exchange and I am particularly happy it has been achieved during the life time of one of its founding fathers, Pa Akintola Williams.
“In telling the story of how we have achieved this milestone, we recognize the efforts of several actors involved in this project – including the management and staff of The Exchange, our members, professional advisers, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the SEC, and other capital market stakeholders, without whom it could not have become a reality.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the week with a 0.52 per cent rise on Monday, July 20, driven by renewed buying interest.
The volume of securities traded during the opening session surged by 6,663.3 per cent to 52.6 million units from the previous 777,002 units, and the value of securities rose by 200.9 per cent to N191.2 million from the preceding session’s N104.2 million, while the number of deals depreciated by 15.2 per cent to 28 deals compared to the preceding session’s 33 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion in trades, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.4 million units exchanged for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
Yesterday, there were two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slid by 66 Kobo to end at N141.15 per unit versus last Friday’s N141.81 per unit, Food Concepts Plc lost 24 Kobo to close at N2.31 per share versus N2.55 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 17 Kobo to settle at N2.25 per unit compared with the previous closing price of N2.42 per unit.
Conversely, CSCS Plc chalked up N5.19 to close at N99.33 per share versus N94.14 per share, and Mass Telecoms Plc appreciated by 3 Kobo to sell at 35 Kobo per unit from 32 Kobo per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N13.57 billion to N2.606 trillion from N2.593 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) gained 22.6 points to quote at 4,343.27 points, in contrast to the previous 4,320.67 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira almost traded flat against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, July 20. It gained 7 Kobo during the session to sell at N1,380.11/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s value of N1,380.18/$1.
It also appreciated against the Euro in the same market window during the session by N1.64 to close at N1,575.95/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,576.99/€1, but depreciated against the Pound Sterling by N2.93 to trade at N1,857.35/£1 compared with the previous trading day’s N1,854.42/£1.
At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian Naira lost N1 against the US Dollar to quote at N1,389/$1 versus N1,388/$1, and at the black market, it traded flat at N1,405/$1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX turnover settled at $266.2 million, 7.5 per cent lower than the previous close of $287.8 million. Also, the number of deals at the interbank FX market declined to 68 from 106.
Despite this, there are signals that the Naira has pillars that can prop up its stability. Updated data from the apex bank showed Nigeria’s gross foreign exchange reserves increased to $51.92 billion as of July 16, 2026, reflecting continued improvements in the country’s external position.
A slew of analysts predict further increases will lift the gross balance above $52 billion this week, the highest seen since 2009.
Also, there are expectations that the country will be able to boost remittances into the country to $1 billion on a monthly basis by the end of the year; this will help ease pressure on the FX markets.
Meanwhile, in the crypto market, Bitcoin (BTC) climbed to about $65,500, reaching a two-week high, as the semiconductor selloff that dragged crypto lower last week reversed and Asian chip stocks led a broad risk rally. It rose by 2.4 per cent to $65,676.01.
There was also support from five straight days of inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs totalling more than $600 million, marking the strongest stretch of institutional buying since mid-July.
Cardano (ADA) jumped by 8.3 per cent to $0.1756, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 4.0 per cent to $1,930.33, Ripple (XRP) improved by 3.9 per cent to $1.13, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to $78.34, Binance Coin (BNB) added 1.9 per cent to sell for $575.34, and Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 1.7 per cent rise to $0.0729.
However, TRON (TRX) declined by 0.1 per cent to $0.3261, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each
By Dipo Olowookere
Sustained bargain-hunting in local stocks further lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 1.12 per cent on Monday.
The buying pressure was across the major sectors of Customs Street, though the consumer goods space came under profit-taking, closing flat.
But the banking counter expanded by 3.14 per cent, the industrial goods index gained 2.82 per cent, the insurance sector increased by 0.25 per cent, and the energy segment soared by 0.08 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) surged by 2,721.83 points to 246,183.96 points from 243,462.13 points, and the market capitalisation went up by N1.755 trillion to N158.812 trillion from N157.057 trillion.
Custodian Investment and NEM Insurance chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N75.90 and N30.80, respectively, BUA Cement rose by 9.98 per cent to N303.10, First Holdco improved by 9.95 per cent to N105.50, and FTN Cocoa advanced by 9.94 per cent to N9.29.
On the flip side, SUNU Assurances shrank by 10.00 per cent to N3.60, Tripple Gee slipped by 9.77 per cent to N3.51, ABC Transport tumbled by 9.62 per cent to N7.05 per cent, Abbey Bank crashed by 9.00 per cent to N9.10, and Coronation Insurance dipped by 7.69 per cent to N2.40.
The market breadth index was flat yesterday, as there were 31 price gainers and 31 price losers.
First Holdco led the activity chart during the session, with a turnover of 203.9 million shares valued at N21.5 billion. Access Holdings sold 190.7 million equities worth N4.8 billion, UBA traded 29.2 million stocks for N1.4 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 24.7 million shares valued at N2.9 billion, and Sterling Holdings exchanged 23.6 million equities worth N187.4 million.
When trading activities ended at 4 pm, investors traded 851.6 million stocks for N49.6 billion in 56,873 deals compared with the 685.9 million stocks valued at N42.7 billion transacted in 44,134 deals last Friday, representing a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 24.16 per cent, 16.16 per cent, and 28.86 per cent, respectively.
