The Nigerian Stock Exchange has expressed optimism that the passage of Petroleum Industry Bill would provide a further boost to listing prospects in the upstream? oil and gas sector.
The chief Executive Officer of the Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema, who stated this recently in Lagos at Stanbic? investors conference said the pressure for reform brought about by the recent nationwide strike over the fuel subsidy removal has added momentum to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which is now being fast -tracked.
Onyema noted that? in the mid and downstream, ongoing deregulation should also boost listings, as investors seek to raise financing for major projects such as refineries and other aspects of the sector’s value chain.
He said a significant boost to this sector would be from the listing of NNPC and their joint venture arrangements which according to him should be encouraged by the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which will spur a change in the corporate structure of these entities.
Onyema noted that the Exchange has been active in advocacy on this front as well, and has made a submission to the task force in respect of the PIB to ensure that listed companies are not penalised under any local content provisions.
“Overall, while we still have a long way to go, we are starting to see measured progress, as to date, we now have about 550 companies in our listing prospect pipeline; with at least 20 giving strong indications to come to market this year,” he said.
In a bid towards ensuring investors’ confidence and providing more transparency to the Nigerian investors, Onyema said it would this year, in partnership with selected partners begin offering quoted companies value-added services aimed at ensuring that all companies realise the value of a listing.
He said all the value-added services were geared towards providing more transparency for investors, and helping companies maximise value for shareholders.
Onyema listed these services to include improvement in the areas of corporate governance, investor relations, institutional services, equity research coverage and? corporate access.
“The Exchange and our partner (Africa Practice) hosted our first IR forum for listed and prospect companies, to sensitise on the use of IR to enhance equity valuation,” he added.