Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday assured the
international community and investors of the present administration's
unwavering commitment towards the
implementation of strategies and policies with a view to achieving economic development.
Osinbajo made the pledge while addressing
participants at the second edition of Capital Market Stakeholders' Forum
organised by the National Assembly joint committee on Capital Market and
Institutions in Abuja.
The vice-president who was represented by the
Director General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, outlined the
policy initiatives to include: Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP);
unprecedented investments in capital projects in the past three years; tax
incentives and the ease of doing business.
According to him, these strategies and policies are
aimed at attracting "investors into various sectors of the Nigerian
economy with the aim of growing and diversifying the economy, creating jobs and
improving the quality of life, and underscores the importance of Nigerian
capital market in the attainment of these objectives.
"Financial markets are known to be engines of
growth because of the strategic role they play in the flow of funds to
businesses and governments. There is extensive literature on the fact that
there is a strong positive correlation between the level of development of the
financial system and economic development, for the simple reason that financial
markets act as intermediaries between lenders and borrowers.”
Osinbajo added that "while this correlation is
certainly the case for the advanced market economies, the same cannot be said
for Nigerian capital market in the areas of legislations, regulations, technology
and products among others which have attracted local and foreign investors to
the market, and I would like to commend the regulators and operators alike for
these achievements.
"There is, however, room for innovation,
increased depth and efficiency of the capital market, and this represents an
opportune time for these to begin to occur in anticipation of increased and
more sophisticated demand for capital market products."
The vice-president also charged experts in the
sub-sector to come up with various innovations that would provide opportunities
for small and medium scale businesses to access required funds for growth.
"While deliberating on big businesses, I hope
that creative ways for enabling small and medium businesses to access capital
will also be considered as they have a great potential for growth, job creation
and effective source of local resources," he said.
Osinbajo urged the private sector to "take
advantage of government incentives of improved business environment, given the
large and diverse resource base of Nigeria, including its entrepreneurial human
resources, adding that the demand for capital will increase perhaps well beyond
the current levels."
He also expressed optimism that the forum would come
up with workable ideas on how the Nigerian capital market can become a reliable
source of large pools of stable funds that can be readily assessed by local and
international institutions seeking to do business in Nigeria, which is highly
commendable.
Also speaking, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki,
stated that the National Assembly would give the right platform for all sectors
of the economy to thrive.
Saraki who was represented by the Senate Minority
Whip, Senator Philip Adudua(FCT), said the legislature would create platform to
grow businesses and draw foreign investment into the country.
"National Assembly will also create avenue to
sustain meaningful and mutually beneficial investment via bilateral and multilateral
investments which is our law making responsibility for the economy,” Saraki
said.
He therefore called on stakeholders to work with
the National Assembly to develop lasting policies that will grow "our
economy, diversify our portfolio against shocks and give jobs to our teeming
populace."
On his part, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Hon.Yakubu Dogara, reiterated the commitment of the eighth assembly
towards the growth and development of the capital market.
Represented by Deputy House Whip, Hon. Pally Iriase,
Dogara added that the National Assembly has so far delivered some of the
legislative actions enunciated in the communique issued at the maiden capital
market stakeholders' forum held in June, 2016.
He said: "It is instructive to note that the National
Assembly has recorded relevant milestones that are expected to drive the
operations of Nigeria's capital market."
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