 Thank you very much for the kind invitation to join you at this first capital market conference of the Nigerian exchange limited in its new shape and form. This is probably the most exciting time in the history of the capital markets in Nigeria. You've just successfully completed the demitualization process which now fully commercializes the functions of the exchange as a corporate entity and importantly separating the regulatory function to prevent conflicts of interest and the NGX can now focus on its core functions of exploring new opportunities, leveraging strategic partnerships and transacting business to deliver profit. Also the NGX group has very successfully listed its shares on the main board of the exchange enabling institutional investors globally and the Nigerian public to now invest in the exchange group and there are strong foundations to build on. The NGX being the foremost multi-asset securities exchange in Africa's largest economy there's also much room to play and even greater potential. Your primary market has the largest concentration of young people which opens up opportunities to replace the aging current players to which Mr. Bukwala has already alluded many times over. We can actually replace these are 50 to 55, 50 to 60 new investors many many times over now with a new population of much younger people. Besides you are now positioned to reverse the trend of declining IPOs in capital markets worldwide with offerings that are more business oriented and less constrained with a much less constrained exchange such as you have now and so it is possible to do much more. We now have greater room for defining the exchange for international competitiveness. This is especially so as is currently being done by you reviewing the governance framework and of course the profit orientation of the exchange also means that the investors can look forward to seeing more fast growing companies listed on the exchange. Every investor at least all smart investors must now be looking at how to become a part of the miracle of the Nigerian unicorns. The five or six even probably seven now indigenous Nigerian companies that became billion dollar enterprises since 2015 in the midst of two recessions. By the way I know of course that you are working on that and the theme of this conference the future already capital market innovating for Nigeria sustainable recovery I believe speaks very eloquently to all of these huge and exciting prospects but as is the case with all exciting opportunities they come with their own challenges you are not functioning in a vacuum you operate within a macroeconomic environment that isn't itself challenged and a global economy in the throes of economic convulsions such as has never been seen before at least in the previous three or four decades supply chain disruptions rising inflation and the threat of even further lockdowns on account of the new variants of the COVID-19 virus. I think that if history is any guide it is in the midst of uncertainties and disruptions that the new era of capital market ascendancy will be birthed and I'm glad that the NGX understands this interpretation of local and international developments. This is apparent from your focus on the evidence silver linings in all of these clouds that we're seeing first with the with the growth of with the work of the growth board of the exchange which I understand is focusing on bringing in fast growing companies especially by dealing with the barriers to entry to the market including access to finance time to market and of course cost of listings the introduction of derivative products that provide more diversified opportunities for liquidity for wealth creation and even risk management as well as the special purpose acquisition companies that you have which create less restrictive requirements for M&A type investments that can now be listed on the exchange you have recognized I think from your strategy that this effort must be collaborative the trade groups the chambers of commerce and other business associations and of course government must play key and active roles and while we're on that point I think so far we must commend the Securities and Exchange Commission for its steady regulatory oversight in stress testing these products and interrogating the implications of introducing them before they are exposed to the investing public but second is your strategic focus on technology and again the CEO has repeated that and this is too prompt technology to bring in a new crop of young investors many of who use only their smartphones and other such devices primarily for engaging with commerce and banking activities today and I think you have commendably begun the journey to digital transformation of the market following the highly successful example of the banks and of course the telcos today the huge retail outlets created by the telcos with well over a hundred million subscribers and then the wide reach of banks especially with the numerous financial inclusion initiatives that have been made within the past few years probably put us at the most auspicious moment for digitizing the capital market to bringing millions of new young retail investors I think it's noteworthy that you're already leveraging on your existing digital platforms your ex-facbook and ex-mobile not just to bring in this new generation of investors but also to enable access to data that would enhance investor decisions the second prong of that technology drive which I understand is being driven by the NGS technology board is attracting the tech companies the present and future tech unicorns to the market as a viable option for for raising capital and the and his Royal Highness the Emirates just referred to that and at the same time given more investors the opportunity to benefit from the phenomenal growth of these companies there's a great deal of work here to be done by the regulator primarily to enable faster and less cumbersome access to the market for an understandably impatient class of potential investors who have other options that may be faster on the draw especially foreign options the opportunities for raising capital from foreign markets but we must work gingerly to ensure that where policy may be involved we enhance and not encumber the ability of these companies to raise capital quickly and efficiently this of course will call for monitoring successful for monitoring and mirroring successful global best practice in the wake of the urgent imperatives and implement and the implications of climate change climate finance has become central to a lot of our conversations on finance and capital markets too the federal government and the ngx have since 2017 taken the initiative of issuing the first African sovereign green bond and the first climate bonds certified sovereign bond and we became only the fourth nation in the world to do so the value of Nigeria's green bonds market has now hit 136 million dollars within three years with four issuances recorded since the first issuance by the federal government as I said in 2017 and it continues to grow I'm aware that in keeping with our thought leadership in this area the ngx has already produced guidelines for sustainability reporting that is the disclosure and communication of environmental social and governance goals as well as a company's progress towards them sustainability reporting is mandatory for premium board listed companies and it's even more important especially as we seek to attract foreign institutional investors for whom sustainability reporting is becoming a norm in any event the benefits of sustainability reporting are extremely useful for corporates as they improve corporate reputation build consumer confidence and even increase innovation in that same rubric of socially responsible and SDG compliant investment products we must also leverage on our experience with issuing scoop bonds the scoop bonds are considerably deepened they have considerably deepened our capital markets and of course the CEO has also referred to that and proceeds have been particularly beneficial to us as a government in improving our sources of finance for infrastructure projects there's a great deal of room here for bringing in much many more retail investors also the african continental free trade agreement offers exciting new prospects for cross border listings and activity and the formation of long-term capital your brand campaign the stock of which africa is made of which was well commended by mr president in his keynote at that launch is not only imaginative but is bold and focused and i think of importance now is that the ngx must work with with all of our afc ta negotiators especially as we progress towards setting the rules in the service sector and i think that this is particularly important the ngx must see itself as a critical player even in the negotiations now of the afc ta we're at a point where we're looking now at negotiating service rules we looked at rules of origin already so this is the time to come into the into play you know along with government negotiators to get the very best deals possible from all our partners all over africa i've spoken earlier of the role of the macroeconomic environment and of course the regulator regime in realizing the huge opportunities we now have in the capital markets but this issue is crucial government policy and action are important and there's no way of overemphasizing that the ngx in 2020 was the highest performing exchange we're told with a return of 50 percent on the all share index when compared with 98 other exchanges tracked globally by bloomberg yet in 2021 so far the exchange has experienced a significant withdrawal of foreign participation as well as domestic institutional participation leading to a meager year-to-date performance of something in the order of about 7.65 percent to correct this and usher in the return of foreign domestic institutional participation i must say that it is clear that government and i believe that all of government agencies and regulators in our financial system such as the central bank the sec pencom among other key stakeholders realized that we must work with the ngx to ensure that the excessive risk premium within the market is abated and that foreign investors are reassured of foreign exchange mechanisms and other regulations that will enable them to channel their resources in and take their resources out with the least possible constraints this government has shown its commitment and i and i believe that that is evident we've shown our commitment to working with the ngx and to working with the capital markets especially of course with the signing of the demitualization bill into law in 2018 and so the point of a reassuring business environment for foreign and local investors is not lost on us as a government indeed our medium term national development plan which was which was officially approved by the federal executive council two wednesdays ago contain a robust policy planning attempt at achieving fast and sustainable growth the objectives of the plan include establishing a strong foundation for a diversified economy investing in critical infrastructure enabling human capital development and improving governance and strengthening security it envisages that the economy will grow from about three percent this year rising to about six point three three percent in 2025 the key of course is in the implementation as i say the devil is in the details in this case the devil obviously is an implementation and we must ensure that we exercise this devil now we have a range of measures in the implementation and of course this range of measures include the fiscal monetary and trade measures the new plan envisages an investment commitment of three forty eight trillion over the planned period government at all levels is expected to come up with forty nine point seven trillion naira or about fourteen percent of that while the private sector is expected to invest two ninety eight trillion or about eighty six percent so the role of the private sector is clear is is is is is quite evident the capital market will undoubtedly have a key role to play in mobilizing these resources next year the federal government will further strengthen the frameworks for concessions and public private partnerships especially as they relate to infrastructure the implementation of a capital of a capital of capital projects will also be further enhanced by the new infraco the fifteen trillion infrastructure fund being set up in partnership with the private sector infraco will certainly help to breach the significant portion of the infrastructure gaps again the recent passage of the paa the petroleum industry act 2021 and consequently the incorporation of the nmpc itself should result in rationalization of expenditure as well as increased investments and improved output in the oil and gas industry but also if the nmpc makes good its plans to be listed this will not only deepen the markets hugely but will also enhance its own governance framework so we certainly look forward to the nmpc fulfilling its promise of being listed within the next year or two let me conclude by reiterating the federal government's commitment to partnership with the ngx in any event i do not think that neither of us or either of us has a choice the capital markets do not have a choice the government also will not have a choice we need the capital markets for the economy and of course the capital markets needs a thriving economy for its own growth so we expect that there will be much more consultation as we go forward and of course we hope that all the regulatory authorities will be joining in these consultations i think that we have an absolutely incredible opportunity now to advance our capital markets not just locally but globally thank you very much for listening