Capital Markets Can Bridge Africa’s Infrastructure Deficit – Shettima

The Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that the infrastructural deficit in the West African sub region is better tackled from inside and not through foreign borrowing alone, and that the job of the capital market in Nigeria and across the region is therefore cut out for it and this extends to Africa at large. Shettima stated this at the opening ceremony of the 3rd West Africa Capital Market Conference (WACMaC) with the theme: “Infrastructural Deficit and Sustainable Financing in an Integrated West African Capital Market” held Wednesday in Lagos. The Vice President, who was represented by Mr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs in the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said the centrality of capital market to Nigeria’s development trajectory especially to the evolution of corporate sector, industries and most importantly infrastructural development cannot be over emphasized. He added that it is a time of intense competition among nations and resources, and with advancement in technology, nations are able to reach nations with their products just as businesses have their fingers in billions of pockets the world over. In his opening remarks, Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Chairman of West Africa Securities Regulators Association, WASRA, Mr. Lamido Yuguda stated that the Conference (WACMaC) was conceived as a platform to address crucial issues related to the orderly growth and development of regional and continental capital markets and jointly hosted by WASRA, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West Africa Capital Market Integration Council (WACMIC), and the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI). Yuguda said, “In 2010, the establishment of the West African Capital Market Integration Council (WACMIC) marked the inception of our collaborative effort to create a seamless and unified capital market within West Africa. Five years later, the formation of the West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) further solidified this commitment to harmonizing the regulatory environment for financial securities issuance and trading. “WACMIC and WASRA bring together the securities exchanges, central securities depositories and commissions of the sub-region, comprising Cape Verde, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), with Morocco as an observer member.  Our mission, as outlined in the ECOWAS Commission Treaty, is to facilitate the issuance and trading of financial securities across the region,” he said. In an address, Executive Governor of Lagos State Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the co-operation between the various bodies fortifies the bedrock of the W/African region fostering a collaborative spirit among member states. Sanwo-Olu said governments are actively aware of the imperatives of addressing infrastructure deficit and sustainable financing in the region. He said the theme of the conference is especially apt for the moment as across the sub region, modern infrastructure such as roads, rails, ports, fibre optics connectivity power etc. are largely inadequate. “These perennial inadequacies have hindered the economic growth of our various nations and economic development of our people.  It behoves therefore on us to deliberate on ideas, financial strategies that can bridge these infrastructural gaps, enhancing the quality of life of our people and propelling our economy to greater heights,” the governor added.

Conducive Business Environment, Panacea To Ending Africa’s Youth Migration –Elumelu

The Founder/Chairman, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Mr. Tony Elumelu, has said that a conducive business environment is the panacea to Africa’s youth migration. Elumelu, who said this at a dinner held for visiting European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Ms Jutta Urpilainen in Abuja, added that youth migration can only stop when the continent’s leaders develop an economy where there is employment and prosperity. According to him, private sector players, development partners and the government must join hands saying that it was about time citizens were economically empowered rather than the occasional handouts that are doled out.   He said, “What is important is for all of us to demonstrate confidence and continue to push and advocate for better governance and the right enabling environment. “There are so many global private capitals looking for the right investment destination. If we turn our country to the right investment destination, capital will come and when capital comes, we are able to develop the country to create employment, jobs and fix insecurity and in that process, we create prosperity for posterity.” Speaking further, the TEF Founder said it was about time the EU and other development partners pool resources together to empower young Africans. “We want to see our young men and women live well in Africa in our lifetime and is this possible? Yes. But how do we make it possible? When all of us – successful rich Africans, friends of Africa like the EU – when we all team up to bring resources together, collaborate to prioritise young Africans, we will achieve that. “We believe the ultimate solution to insecurity is economic empowerment and we believe that in the 21st century, it is not about handouts but about economically empowering people so they can look after themselves.” Elumelu revealed that since its inception, the Foundation has spent over $100 million empowering over 18,000 young African entrepreneurs. According to him, they were able to create wealth through careful entrepreneurship empowerment. He said, “The Tony Elumelu Foundation has committed $100 million to impact 18,000 young African entrepreneurs by giving them a seed capital of $5,000 and training them for six weeks as well as providing mentors to coach them. They in turn have gone to create thousands of jobs, which is the impact we want to see. “The impact report of the foundation shows that it has created over 400,000 jobs and we will continue to invest more in youth entrepreneurship.” He said the partnership with the EU will further deepen the collaboration as the Foundation seeks to attract investments into the continent. In her remarks, Urpilainen said the EU is committed to its partnership with TEF, noting that the Foundation was doing a great job through the empowerment of young entrepreneurs across the continent. She said, “I wanted to get rid of this kind of donor-reciFoundation was doing a great job of pient relationship where we as donors tell and impose what we expect from Africans under our partnerships; “So, we really wanted to change the paradigm and create mutually beneficial partnerships. “And in order to be able to succeed, we also created this Global Gateway Investment Strategy and it was adopted two years ago.