The Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and President of African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), Oscar Onyema, has promised that he would prioritise capacity building in member-bodies’ capital markets during his tenure.
He gave the promise during an interactive session with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) media team.
Onyema explained that his vision for ASEA would be strengthening partnerships among member-countries’ capital markets that are of strategic benefits to all and to enhance the capacity of member exchanges to deliver on the association’s vision of enabling African exchanges to be significant drivers of economic and societal transformation in the African continent.
He explained: “We have executed on a number of strategic partnerships, notably the ASEA-AfDB African Exchange Linkage Project (AELP), while also increasing ASEA’s membership with eight new members.
“NSE has recently been confirmed as the host of the 22nd Annual Conference of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) in November 2018. As the President of ASEA since November 2014, what is your vision for the association? And how important is it for Nigeria to be hosting the next ASEA meeting?
“I am immensely pleased that The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE or the exchange) will be hosting the 22nd edition of the flagship conference of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA or the Association), given Nigeria’s unique position in the Association and Africa. This event is coming at a time when Nigeria has turned a corner from its first recession in over two decades, to emerge as the best performing bourse in Africa and 3rd best performing globally in 2017. This story of resilient growth is at the very heart of this year’s conference, themed ‘Champions on the Rise: Africa’s Ascension to a More Sustainable Future”, the investment expert added
Onyema, whose tenure will end soon, explained that his team had executed on a number of strategic partnerships, notably the ASEA-AfDB African Exchange Linkage Project (AELP), while also increasing ASEA’s membership with eight new members.
He clarified further: “To build capacity across our member exchanges, in 2017 we partnered with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute to provide discounts for staff of ASEA member exchanges and their respective members, and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) to develop a common certification programme across the 28 ASEA member exchanges.
“Also in 2017, ASEA signed a strategic agreement with the Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) to promote the development of African capital markets. Under this partnership FSD Africa provides ASEA with technical and financial assistance towards ASEA’s annual conferences, our new online data portal, and recently launched African Exchanges Secondment Programme.
“Looking forward, I would like to see increased sophistication and burgeoning international interest in African capital markets, not just because it will show that the ground work that we have laid in the past few years was rightfully done, but also to promote growth opportunities for Africa’s global financial markets”, the NSE’s boss added.
On what his plans are for the Nigerian bourse in the current year, Onyema said that the exchange’s continued transition to a new four-year strategic plan was expected to position it as Africa’s preferred exchange hub.
He clarified: “Our plan commences this year and runs through 2021. The first priority will be to ensure the continuity and completion of ongoing market development initiatives such as the launch of derivatives and the successful demutualisation of The Exchange.
“We have also restructured the organisation to become more nimble and agile, ensuring that we recruit key talent where we do not have the required skill-sets internally. As part of our restructuring exercise, we will embark on a wholesale corporate shift from product-centricity to customer-centricity.
“Over the past few years, the exchange has developed a bouquet of products and services that we believe have brought delight to our customers in the retail and institutional space, but we think we have just scratched the surface in terms of providing customer satisfaction.
“Going forward, we will engage with our customers across all segments with a view of gaining a sound understanding of what their drivers of value are. This will help us create customised solutions tailored to providing flexibility in savings and accessing capital at all phases of the investor and issuer lifecycle”, the ASEA President assured.
