Economy
Nigeria’s Economic Growth, Competitiveness Depend on Infrastructure—SEC DG
**Gives FG Alternative Funding Tools for Projects
By Dipo Olowookere
For the umpteenth time, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has listed different ways federal government can reduce the huge infrastructure deficit in Nigeria through the capital market.
Acting Director-General of SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, while speaking at the annual conference of Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) last Saturday, said government can narrow this gap by creating an enabling environment for private investors to assist in solving the problem.
Ms Uduk, who was represented at the event by the Head of Department, External Relations at SEC, Mr Sufian Abdulkarim, noted that private sector must be brought into the picture to achieve meaningful results.
“Government cannot be the sole provider/promoter of infrastructure projects, private sector investment in infrastructure sector is also required.
“Given the need to bridge the infrastructure deficit and the challenges of financing it, the county needs to leverage on alternative sources of infrastructure financing, such as the capital market.
“In view of the government’s bid to reverse the current growth trend, diversify the economy and develop infrastructure, there is no better time than now to leverage the capital market for sourcing of infrastructure development financing,” the SEC boss said at the forum themed Bridging Nigeria’s Infrastructure gap: The Capital Market Option.
Ms Uduk described infrastructure development as very important for a country’s sustained economic growth and competitiveness, noting that a well-developed infrastructure has the potential to increase productivity which leads to poverty and unemployment reduction, facilitate trade and promote innovation in an economy.
According to her, the capital market provides an enabling environment for private investments in infrastructure projects and the SEC was doing its part to foster this through the implementation of the Capital Market Master Plan (2015-2025).
She said the plan’s major objective is to transform the Nigerian capital market, making it competitive, while contributing towards the nation’s development through funds mobilization.
“The Nigerian capital market has been used as a source of raising funds as early as 1946, when the colonial government floated the first loan stock worth £300,000 to fund its local administration.
“Today, the Nigeria capital market has broadened and become more sophisticated as a result of various development initiatives advocated by the SEC,” she stated.
The SEC acting DG said, “There are various sources of funds available in the capital market which can be harnessed for infrastructure development, some of which are Pension Funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) amongst others.
“In addition, there are various capital market instruments that can be used for infrastructures financing, amongst which are the infrastructure project bonds, sukuk, infrastructure debt bonds, green bonds and revenue bonds.”
She expressed confidence that the establishment of an active infrastructure funds via the capital market as being pursued by capital market stakeholders would be immensely beneficial in closing the infrastructure gaps in the country.
Ms Uduk said Nigeria, and many other Sub-Saharan African countries have huge infrastructure deficits with the attendant low economic development.
According to her, the traditional source of infrastructure funding through public expenditure and development finance aids have been found to be inadequate as evidenced by the country’s infrastructure gap.
Quoting a report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Nigeria’s Infrastructure Plan in 2013, she said it was estimated that Nigeria would need to invest about $350 billion in its infrastructure sector in 10 years to be at par with its peers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
African businessman, Mr Aliko Dangote, has said that due to Tanzania’s current reservations, there is a strong case for the planned East African Dangote refinery to be hosted in Kenya instead.
Last month, it was reported that the billionaire, alongside the presidents of Kenya and Uganda, Mr William Ruto, and Mr Yoweri Museveni, planned to build a new oil refinery in Tanzania. The project will include a pipeline that links the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to the northeastern Tanzanian harbour of Tanga, where the facility will be situated.
However, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan last week complained angrily to her Kenyan counterpart that she had not been consulted over the earlier plan to build it on her country’s coastline.
Due to the latest development, the industrialist is now eyeing Kenya as the site of the planned 650,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery, as per the Financial Times. The facility is estimated to cost as much as $17 billion, compared to the $20 billion structure based in Lagos.
“I’m leaning more towards Mombasa because it has a much larger, deeper port,” he was quoted as saying.
“Kenyans consume more. It’s a bigger economy,” he said, adding that crude oil for the refinery could be transported by ship and need not be located near a pipeline that will carry oil nearly 1,500 kilometres from Ugandan oilfields to the Tanzanian coast at Tanga.
“The ball is in the hands of President Ruto,” he said. “Whatever President Ruto says is what I’ll do.”
Mr Dangote said he would need a lot of government protection from President Ruto, noting that it would mean land, financing, and most importantly, protection from what he called the dumping of cheap fuel from the likes of Russia or India.
“There is no refinery in the world that can survive without that protection,” he said. “If we have an agreement, we can start this year.”
Mr Dangote, who has faced multiple accusations of monopoly, built his empire in industries such as salt, sugar, flour, cement, and, more recently, petroleum, largely through a business model that benefited from government incentives, preferential foreign exchange access, and policies that limited foreign competition.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended rallied by 1.18 per cent on Friday, May 8, its fifth in a row for this week.
During the session, the market capitalisation increased by N28.96 billion to N2.488 trillion from N2.459 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumped by 48.39 points to 4,158.77 points from the 4,110.38 points recorded a day earlier.
The growth witnessed yesterday was spurred by the gains recorded by six securities, led by 11 Plc, which chalked up N11.00 to sell at 221.10 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N210.10 per unit. FrislandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N10.26 to close at N132.98 per share compared with the previous day’s N127.06 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc rose by N2.82 to N75.90 per unit from N73.08 per unit.
In addition, Lighthouse Financial Services Plc appreciated by 7 Kobo to 86 Kobo per share from 81 Kobo per share, UBN Property Plc climbed higher by 5 Kobo to N2.25 per unit from N2.20 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc gained 2 Kobo to close at N2.32 per share, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.30 per share.
Conversely, Geo-Fluids Plc went down by 20 Kobo to N2.90 per unit from N3.10 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 5 Kobo to end at N16.95 per share versus N17.00 per share.
The volume of transactions for the session surged by 41.8 per cent to 528,891 units from 372,916 units, and the value grew by 11.4 per cent to N34.0 million from N30.4 million, while the number of deals slid by 7.4 per cent to 25 deals from 27 deals.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion. Resourcery Plc occupied the second spot after trading 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and the third position was occupied by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.5 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock exchange reversed the previous day’s loss, with a 2.10 per cent surge on Friday as a result of demand for large-cap equities like Dangote Cement, First Holdco and others.
It was observed that apart from the insurance counter, which shed 0.37 per cent, every other sector closed higher yesterday.
The industrial goods index expanded by 7.26 per cent, the banking segment increased by 3.35 per cent, the consumer goods industry rose by 0.21 per cent, and the energy sector soared by 0.14 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited improved by 5,041.22 points to 244,775.83 points from 239,734.61 points, and the market capitalisation added N3.235 trillion to settle at N157.094 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N153.859 trillion.
The quintet of Neimeth, Cadbury Nigeria, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, Mecure, and Dangote Cement led the advancers’ table on Friday, with 10.00 per cent growth each to quote at N9.90, N72.60, N3.52, N72.60, and N1,088.00, respectively.
On the flip side, the duo of UAC Nigeria and Industrial and Medical Gases lost 10.00 per cent each to sell for N171.00 and N42.30, respectively, as Eterna declined by 9.93 per cent to N33.55, Learn Africa slipped by 9.89 per cent to N8.20, and Deap Capital tripped by 9.69 per cent to N5.50.
The most active stock for the day was VFD Group, with a turnover of 102.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion. FCMB transacted 99.4 million units worth N1.1 billion, UBA traded 94.5 million units for N3.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 85.4 million units worth N2.0 billion, and Zenith Bank sold 46.5 million units valued at N5.8 billion.
At the close of trades, market participants traded 1.1 billion units worth N55.0 billion in 69,996 deals, in contrast to the 1.8 billion units valued at N72.2 billion transacted in 81,131 deals a day earlier, showing a crash in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 38.89 per cent, 23.82 per cent, and 13.73 per cent, respectively.
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