All State-Owned Companies in Nigeria Should Be Listed on the Stock Exchange
Nigeria must prioritize the listing of all state-owned corporations on the stock market to optimize the value of its assets as a nation.
Dr. Ayo Teriba an economist, and CEO of Economic Associates, made this point at the Q4,2022 seminar on ‘Nigeria’s Economic Prospects‘ in Lagos.
Speaking on the sub-theme ‘National Prospects,’ he said liquidity is the important thing required in national economics. This, he pointed out, can be derived through the process of unlocking wealth through assets.
Through this approach he asserted that Nigeria will boost its source of revenue, foreign exchange and experience economic stability.
He added, “Nigeria is facing a challenge of declining export revenues and FDI stock and must decide to focus on equity to boost foreign direct investments inflows.”
Citing the example of Saudi Arabia, he noted that the Kingdom sold a 1.9% stake through an initial public offering, IPO in its state-owned oil company ‘Saudi Aramco’ and realized $29bn from its listing through the capital market.
He advised the fiscal policymakers to explore ways of establishing the market value of Nigeria’s corporate assets, learning from other countries like India, Brazil and Egypt.
For the ‘Sub National‘ sub-theme, the economist called on states to be conscious of their assets and explore ways of unlocking wealth. He decried that no corporate assets owned by states were listed on the stock market.
“States need to focus on the wealth they can generate to become viable and sustainable, beyond the dependency on FAAC allocations,” he noted.
Reviewing the ‘Global‘ sub-theme, he stated, “Countries have two opportunities to create or gain wealth either through income statement or balance sheet. Sometimes gains made from both can be equal or unequal. Upward trends in commodity prices increase transaction gains, while downward trends in commodity prices decrease transaction gains”.
Assessing the trends shaping global economic developments, he acknowledged that there are rooted in the impact of technological advancements.
For his views on the ‘Corporate‘ sub-theme, Dr. Ayo Teriba emphasized the need for companies to think more about financializing their assets. He advised corporates to rely less on tangible products and more on asset portfolios.
Source: proshare
