By Hannah Isibor, Paul Metu & Zino Magbegor

Elder Ade Oduntun:

I think it will bring about more investments. This is a civilized country, and we need to enlighten people. Even SEC has told us that it needs so many shareholders’ associations; that the ones in existence are not enough. With the international Growth Fund it has acquired, we only pray that it would be used for the purpose it is meant for, which is for the development of the capital market. It will not make sense if they keep acquiring fund and we don’t seeing the benefits of the fund.

Mr. Boniface Okezie:

Well for me, if they’ve acquired an international Growth Fund, it depends on those deploying the money if it is meant for the purpose of the capital market? If it’s not meant for the capital market, then there’s no way it can boost the capital market. We’ve not seen any money deployed. Who is managing the fund?  I ask because SEC keeps talking about foreign investors even though the market is nose-diving on a daily basis.

Few months  ago, the  market went up and we thought that it has bounced back probably because of the  return of the so-called  foreign investors, who are not real investors anyway, because once they see about  30 to 40 percent price increase, they will sell and go back to their country and the market keeps suffering.

What SEC should be talking of is how we can get retail and local investors back into the market? These are the people who stay for long, unless something serious happens that will warrant them to sell off their shares. You will hardly see a Nigerian shareholder dispose his or her investments because they invest for a long time. The reason why they invested is to be able to reap dividend; some of them can afford to sell their bonuses and retain the main principal investment. But with the foreign investors, it’s not the same.

The market is nose-diving because of profit taking; people are maximising their opportunity. So, SEC needs to have enlightenment campaign so as to win Nigerians back into the capital market because that’s the only way the market can be sustained. Initially, when the market was emerging, I asked them ‘’is it sustainable?’’ that’s the question I put across. It’s not sustainable.

Yes the market can nose-dive, that’s what makes it a capital market. It cannot be stable all the time but then again, it cannot continue on the magnitude at which it’s going today. If things are running well in the capital market, let the Growth Fund be deployed; let us see the impact how it’s going to affect the market. Until that happens, I cannot comment much on that. Is it a fund that Nigerians can have access to? Or is it for institutional investors? Or is it a pension fund? SEC should define the role of the fund, otherwise there’s no way it can boost the market. (Mr. Boniface Okezie is the president of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria)

Pastor Williams Adebayo:

I don’t have much to say, just that the reason why they acquired the fund should be seen with the growth of the capital market as evidence. It will be useless to get fund and then the fund remains unfruitful. If the market is not stable, there’s no improved efficiency and transparency from the governing council; we don’t have investors’ protection, policies, regulations and infrastructure which are required in order to encourage people to invest are not there, then the acquisition of the fund will be meaningless. Let them acquire, but let us see the growth in the capital market since it’s because of growth that the fund was acquired.(Pastor Williams Adebayo is the president of Greenwich Shareholders Association of Nigeria)