Business
Nigerian financial markets post healthy gains, but local investors still wary
Traders on the floor of the Nigerian Stock exchange. PHOTO/File
Nigeria’s financial markets posted healthy gains in 2013 but 5 years on from the global financial meltdown, local investors are still wary of sinking their money into stocks.
The market capitalization of the nearly 200 listed companies on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 41 percent in the 12 months to December 31 to around 13 trillion naira (US$58 billion).
The All-Share Index on west Africa’s leading bourse closed up nearly a third over the year, to 41,329.19 points. The figures indicated that the market appears to have rebounded well from the global meltdown, which saw some 8 trillion naira (US$36 billion) wiped off the value of stocks.
Industry operators said the market has been buoyed by foreign investors looking for bargains.
According to Mukaila Alogba, a stoke broker, foreigners have made Nigeria’s capital market their investment destination as a lot of shares were selling far below their par value following the 2008 financial crash.
Investments from offshore accounted for some 60 percent of total transactions in the stock market in 2013, he added.
Also, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, which backs private enterprise, floated 12 billion naira (US$54 billion) in bonds to lure investors into Nigeria’s nascent capital markets, he said.
