The Federal Ministry of Communication has said it will partner the Securities and Exchange Commission to facilitate the listing of telecommunication firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A statement on Monday quoted the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson,  as saying this at the second Annual Capital Market Committee Retreat in Delta state.

Johnson, who spoke on the theme ‘Information and Communications Technologies, the Capital Market, and the Transformation Agenda, urged the SEC and stakeholders in the capital market, not to focus solely on the telecoms industry. Rather, she said that there was the need to target all sectors of the economy.

She also stated that  the Ministry of Communication Technology would inaugurate a $15m venture capital fund aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s ICT industry.

According to her, by encouraging young Nigerians, who are into such things as software development, the fund will boost the development of the Information and Communications Technology Sector.

“The venture capital fund is really a fund that will target ICT entrepreneurs. It is important because most of them don’t have the fund to develop their ideas or don’t have the access to borrow money to develop their ideas,” she said.

Johnson added that the ministry hoped to raise an additional $4m to achieve the target of $15m for the fund, stressing that the money would only go to young Nigerians with proven business ideas in the software development and the likes.

In her opening remarks at the event, which had the theme, “The Pivotal Role of the Capital Market in the Transformation Agenda for the Nigerian Economy,”Director- General, SEC, Ms. Arunma Oteh, explained that the plan was part of moves aimed at deepening the capital market.

Oteh, however, urged stakeholders to look beyond the big  telecommunication companies.

“I know that some of the opportunities that she (Johnson) is working on today will create the Nigerian equivalent of Microsoft, Google and Facebook of Nigeria, who are the key drivers of the US stock market,” she remarked.

Oteh, who added that the SEC was also hoping to get privatised firms listed on the Exchange, also spoke about the planned privatisation of the power sector.

“I can guarantee you that the revolution in the power sector would be bigger than the revolution in the telecoms industry. These assets when listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange will have even greater value,”she stated.

The SEC boss also said Nigeria was at a defining moment in its history, and called on stakeholders to be creative as they discuss the challenges of the capital market and proffer solutions to them.

“As we plan for 2013, we need to be bold, to think big and to be well prepared,” she said.

Source: Punch (written by Udeme Ekwere)