Nigerian power companies would most likely be required to list their shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange within the next five years.
The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh, disclosed this to Bloomberg News in Abuja on Friday adding that the NSE was still targeting a $1tn market value by 2016.
The government approved bids this year by companies included Siemens AG (SIE), Korea Electric Power Corporationand Transnational Corporation.
Oteh noted that requiring the companies to list shares would make the Exchange more representative of the country's economy.
"Within a five year period these companies will be expected to list, and we cannot make the mistake that we made with telecoms which were granted cellular licences in 2001 and weren't required to list their shares," she stated. She also noted that discussions with the Bureau of Public Enterprises, which is responsible for the privatisation process is still ongoing.
Only about 17 per cent of Nigeria's economy is reflected on the market, according to Oteh. The NSE sub-Saharan Africa's second largest bourse, has attempted to encourage listings and bring bigger trading volumes by introducing short selling, market making and securities lending this year. The bourse has a current value of $54.6bn, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Currently, none of the main four telecommunications companies, including Africa's largest operator MTN Group Limited, are listed on the NSE. Oteh said she wasn't looking to have listing made compulsory for them now.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc's local unit, which is the West African country's biggest private oil company, isn't represented on the market either. Oteh said it made "good business sense" to be on the bourse.
Meanwhile, equity trading activities on the NSE closed on a negative note a day before the Christmas holidays, as the All-Share Index fell by 0.20 per cent to close on Monday at 27,346.65 points.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of the listed equities also lost 0.20 per cent to close at N8.74trn.
Analysts traced the depreciation in the indices to the losses recorded in the share prices of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Oando Plc, Nestle Plc, Ashaka Cement Plc and Skye Bank Plc.
