FG, NGX Set To Stimulate Startup Listing With Tech Board

The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy disclosed its plans to collaborate with Nigerian Exchange Limited to boost startup listings with the newly-created NGX Technology Board.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the NGX, it noted that the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this during a tech event themed; Invest in Africa’s Future- Let’s talk about exits- a joint initiative of the Ministry, NGX, and Future Africa in New York.

Tijani said Nigeria had been grappling with over dependence on oil in the last few years. He noted that diversifying from reliance on a single sector like the oil industry often requires increasing productivity in other sectors and for him, this can be achieved through the application of technology and innovation.

According to him, “We cannot do all of these as a country if we do not prioritise innovation and encourage entrepreneurs to build. Nigeria is now open to investments. We want to prioritise the ability of our technology companies to export products and we are targeting Africa first and then eventually start selling to the rest of the world.”

Speaking at the same event, the Chief Executive Officer, NGX, Temi Popoola, said the exchange will work to support the agenda of the minister and the mandate of President Bola Tinubu. Whilst stating that technology is a big enabler of the capital market, Popoola also noted that NGX is keen on fostering innovation in the capital market, potentially to attract a larger pool of investors and mature tech companies to list on its platform.

The CEO said, “We will continue to do a lot of work that makes us able to attract local capital and the day tech startups come to the exchange, we are confident that there would be very good audience of investors that would want to own a bit of their shares. This is what we at NGX are doing by removing all barriers for that to happen."