Capital market to provide funds for businesses, seeks more investors
By Chukwuma Umeorah
As a way of encouraging investors to explore opportunities in the capital market to grow businesses, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that the market will be available to provide funding to entreprenuers.
The Director General of SEC, Lamido Yuguda, stated this at the maiden Gombe State Investment Summit themed “Industrialisation: The Pathway to Innovation, Transformation, and Development of Gombe” held at the state capital on Wednesday.
He said, “The capital market is available to provide funding to businesses. With crowdfunding, a small business can raise money based on certain principles as the SEC has approved this to happen for a certain number of investors and certain amount at a time.
He highlighted other benefits investors and businesses stand to enjoy from exploring opportunities in the capital market particularly in the agro-allied sector. “There are also huge opportunities available for businesses especially the agro-allied businesses. They can use the commodities market to access high caliber customers that require agric produce in large quantities. We have licensed six commodities exchanges in Nigeria and they are very active”, he said.
Yuguda commended the state government on the resuscitation of the state owned Gombe State Investment and Property Development Company Limited to serve as a one-stop shop for all investment-related issues in order to facilitate ease of doing business, adding that small firms can be prepared to access the capital market by such outfits.
He underscored the role of the capital market to businesses in the country noting its importance in the growth of businesses, creation of wealth, improving standard of living and the development of the economy. He noted that investors could easily approach the market for primary and secondary offers due to the less stringent disclosure requirements.
He commended the private sector for their endeavor in areas like railway, power, communication among others that used to be dominated by the government. “Before now, the government mainly provided a lot of these infrastructure and services, but today we can see the private sector taking over while the government provides the necessary regulatory oversight,” he stated.
In his opening remarks, Governor of Gombe state, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya reiterated the state’s commitment to human capital development. He disclosed that his administration is working to provide infrastructure to serve as a catalyst for industrialization and growth.
According to him, “We realized that in order to put our state on the path of sustainable progress and long-term prosperity, we must strategically invest in both human capital and infrastructural development.”
“For businesses to thrive, we need collaboration with relevant stakeholders, innovation, risk reduction, as well as sound regulatory framework and sustainable wealth creation. We are harmonizing taxation, improving efficiency, stamping out corruption, ensuring security of lives and property and empowering the judiciary to work better.”
