CAMCAN Holds Confab on Financing Infrastructure

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Stakeholders in the capital market will on Saturday, December 7, 2019, gather in Lagos for the 2019 annual conference of the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN).

A statement from the group said during the interactive session scheduled to take place at the Dover Hotel, Ikeja, participants will discuss Bridging Nigeria’s Infrastructure Gap: The Capital Market Option, which is the theme.

It is an open secret that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been making efforts to the infrastructure challenges in the country, which has further widened the infrastructure deficit.

However, this weekend, investment experts, capital market regulators, operators and other stakeholders will brainstorm to proffer ways on how government can tap into the nation’s capital market to tackle the issues.

Some of the invited guests to dissect the theme include Mr Oluseun Olatidoye, who is the Head of Debt Capital Markets for FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited.

He is highly experienced in raising capital and has over the last eight years managed a multi-award-winning team that has led the execution of several mandates for sovereign, sub national and corporate issuers valued in excess of $5 billion.

According to CAMCAN, the capital market has pools of long-term funds that can provide the required financing for infrastructure, saying invited guests will examine how government can use the market to solve the infrastructure challenges at relatively cheaper costs.

It was stated that a panel of specialists from regulatory organisations, securities exchanges and other operators will also discuss and bring more perspectives to Mr Olatidoye’s presentation at the confab.

Some of these are the acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk; CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema; Managing Director/CEO of FMDQ Securities Exchange, Mr Bola Onadele; MD/CEO of Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS), Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri; representatives from listed companies, trade groups, amongst others.

“Although, Nigerian equity market has witnessed a bearish trend in recent time, the country’s huge infrastructural deficit in power, housing, roads, healthcare, port services among others are still better addressed via capital market.

“With government economic reforms running at full throttle, prospects are high for the sustained development of the Nigerian debt market as a viable tool for financing Nigeria’s infrastructure,” CAMCAN said in the statement.