The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday received members approval for listing by introduction at its 59th Annual General Meeting held in Lagos.
Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President of the National Council of NSE, said the approval would fast-track plans to re-register The NSE as the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGXG) on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) once the NSE was completely demutualised.
Ogunbanjo said that under the resolution passed by the AGM, the conversion and re-registration was subject to the receipt of requisite approvals of relevant regulatory authorities.
He said that voting cleared the way for the listing of NGXG and for a new structure that would enable the Exchange to realise its vision of becoming Africa’s leading exchange hub.
According to him, NGXG Plc will be expected to realise all the benefits of demutualisation for its stakeholders and the capital market at large.
“The National Council welcomes the strong endorsement by the members of the Exchange for our listing plans.
“On behalf of the council, we wish to thank the Exchange’s management for their outstanding work in the previous year, when they have faced unprecedented challenges such as the Coronavirus pandemic.
It is a tribute to their efforts that the exchange has continued to work effectively and at the same time has made significant progress in pursuing its strategic development through listing and other steps,” he said.
Following the conversion and re-registration of the Exchange as Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, the powers of the National Council of the Exchange would be devolved upon the Board of Directors of the Group and the re-election as a Member of the National Council.
Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, who is the Group CEO of NGXG Plc Designate for the new structure, said: “We would like to thank the membership of The Exchange for their overwhelming support of the listing plans.
“This marks the beginning of the Exchange’s transformation into a listed company with flexibility to raise additional equity and (or) debt capital.
“ It is our aim that under this new structure, the Nigerian capital markets will be able to play a role that is commensurate with Nigeria’s status as Africa’s biggest economy.
“We believe we can become a financial hub for Africa and with the backing of our stakeholders and their continued use of our services this objective can become a reality,” he added.
According to the Exchange, NSE’s demutualisation was unanimously approved by its members at its court ordered meeting held in March 2020.
The demutualisation of the Exchange is subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange (SEC) of Nigeria, which is expected imminently.
