Privatised public enterprises are to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Alex Okoh, has said.
He said this in Abuja on Friday when he received members of a technical committee on attracting new listings, according to a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by the Head of Public Communications at the agency, Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh.
The BPE boss said the structure of the reform and privatisation process by the BPE envisaged listing of privatised enterprises as the final outcome.
Okoh, however, raised concerns about the stability of the market and prospects of getting good value should the privatised entities be listed.
He pledged strong collaboration with the capital market, which would help to deepen the market.
He said, “We will collaborate in reviewing what the conditions are and try to make it right for the listings. We will collaborate with you in establishing the conditions that reduce the nerves of the core investors.”
The BPE boss explained that there would be a period of assessment of privatised entities during which the BPE could examine the conditions of listing and urged the committee to take a holistic approach to their assignment.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Committee and Executive Director of the NSE, Mr. Haruna Waziri, pointed out that they had been engaging with trade groups, regulators and quasi-regulators in order to actualise their mandate.
Waziri noted that apart from creating efficiency, privatisation was a catalyst for economic growth that could also induce inclusiveness in the populace.
He said that privatisation would increase the velocity of the capital market and stressed that there was capacity in the primary market, adding that the depth of the market had not yet been explored.
