STORIES BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

Small and Medium scale Enterprises, SMES, have been urged to take advantage of the platform provided by the National Association of Security Dealers Plc, NASD, to access funds for their operations.

Bola Ajomale, Managing Director/CEO, NASD, made the call at the Fidelity SME Forum, a weekly radio programme organised by Fidelity Bank Plc.

Speaking on the ‘Sources of Capital for SMEs: Options and Requirements’, Ajomale explained that NASD does not provide fund but a market for those who have funds and those who are seeking funds to meet their operational needs.

“If a company wants to raise money, they would approach us through an adviser and they showcase themselves as well as their funds. They can also promise their shareholders or those that invest in them that they can sell down through the market.

“A private equity firm or venture capital firms actually have their own funds from managed funds that they are seeking to invest. So, we are not seeking to invest, rather we are creating a market where both existing and prospective investors and shareholders can meet and trade.”

He explained that NASD is a collection of capital market operators under the umbrella of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, mandated to trade on non-listed securities.

“The whole idea was that there are a lot of securities that are not listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, but the investor still needs liquidity and essentially the SEC challenged the capital market industry to create an avenue where this can be traded easily.

“Our platform provides an avenue through which you can at least show that you have these shares to sell and also allows people to see what is available to buy because as some people want liquidity, other people are looking for investments to get into. We match both the investor and one who is getting out on investment together.”

On how a company can qualify to take advantage of this platform, Ajomale stated that there is an eligibility criterion for every single entrant and stage, stressing that there are large and small companies already trading on the platform.  “Essentially, what we do, we categorise them. You have the blue category and the pink category which is probably younger with corporate governance issues to deal with. They probably have some finance issues to deal with. They need to have a certain amount of structure also for them to be attractive to investors.

”They must have advisers. We would encourage them even if they just haVE seven shareholders and once you have shareholders, you can register as a Plc. We would encourage them to be a public limited company because that way, they can access a wider range of funds. We do not have a number of size of the capital per say but we’ve started talking to SME companies.”

Fidelity SME Forum is a deliberate attempt by the bank to resuscitate the Small and Medium – scale Enterprises (SMEs) and create a new generation of entrepreneurs with the “I can do” spirit in Nigeria. This is not only seen as the bank’s believe in SMEs as a growth catalyst but also a clear commitment to efforts aimed at revamping the Nigerian economy.

The weekly radio programme, essentially seeks to empower Nigerian entrepreneurs with knowledge, know-how and expertise that will help them build successful businesses. This it does by bringing renowned entrepreneurs to the show on weekly basis to share their experiences and encourage potential and existing entrepreneurs. This is aside the other financial, legal and business advisory services the Fidelity Managed SMEs Business