Speaking on the floor of NSE, the director- general of BPE, Mr. Benjamin He said that in the next few years, as the Nigerian electricity supply sector moves into the hands of private sector owners and mature, the 17 PHCN successor companies would come for listing.

Dikki spoke on the floor of the NSE in Lagos on Thursday.

According to the director-general,  the remaining government shareholdings in the DISCOs being privatised through core investor sale strategy would be divested through the Exchange.

He said that BPE has always been in partnership with the NSE.

“The relationship between the bureau, the NSE and the Nigerian capital market is a long standing one, “he said.

He reminded the stochbrokers at the exchange that  about 55 companies listed on the stock exchange came through the privatisation  process.

“During the first phase of the privatisation programme from 1989, 55 out of 111 enterprises scheduled for privatisation were privatised via public floatation,” he said.

The director-general posited that the programme recorded success that resulted in the listing of companies in banking, oil and gas marketing, manufacturing, hotels and hospitality sectors of the economy.

He recalled that companies like First Bank, UBA, Oando, Conoil, Wapco were all privatised publicly and listed at the Exchange.

The BPE, he said,  would help in developing and increasing the depth of the market by bringing enterprises for listing.

“We have also commenced discussion with some companies that we have core investors’ sales to be listed on the market. So there is hope that in the near future, many of the companies like Eleme Petrochemicals, Sahcol, Transcorp Hilton etc will be ready for listing,” he said.

The Federal Government, he said,  recognised the role of the capital market in providing long term funding that would drive investments in the transport sector which would result from the reform initiatives in the sector. The CEO of NSE, Oscar Onyema, said that NSE has been working closely with the BPE.