The Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy has expressed its intent to collaborate with the Nigerian Exchange Limited to stimulate the listing of startups on the newly-established NGX Technology Board.
In an official statement released by NGX on a Friday, Minister Bosun Tijani, responsible for Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, made this announcement during a tech event in New York titled “Invest in Africa’s Future – Let’s talk about exits.” This event was a collaborative initiative between the Ministry, NGX, and Future Africa.
Tijani emphasized Nigeria’s need to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify into other sectors through technological innovation and increased productivity.
He outlined several key objectives, including creating a conducive regulatory environment for fintechs, facilitating access to funding from angel investors, enhancing digital infrastructure, promoting the export of tech products and services, and partnering with NGX to offer tailored listing options for startups through its Technology Board.
The Minister emphasized, “We must prioritize innovation and encourage entrepreneurs to build for us to achieve these goals as a nation.
Nigeria is now open to investments, and we aim to empower our technology companies to export their products, starting with Africa and eventually expanding to the global market.”
Simultaneously, Temi Popoola, the Chief Executive Officer of NGX, affirmed the exchange’s commitment to supporting the Minister’s agenda and President Bola Tinubu’s mandate.
Popoola recognized technology as a significant catalyst for the capital market and expressed NGX’s eagerness to foster innovation in order to attract a broader spectrum of investors and established tech companies to list on its platform.
Popoola also addressed the challenges related to listings, acknowledging that the demand for private capital currently surpasses that of public capital.
He disclosed that NGX is engaging in discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission to enable the exchange to work with non-listed companies, including startups.
In conclusion, Popoola assured that NGX is actively working to remove barriers to attract local capital, expressing confidence that when tech startups join the exchange, there will be a substantial audience of investors eager to acquire shares in these companies.
This reflects NGX’s dedication to facilitating such opportunities for growth and investment.
