Alhaji Garba Kurfi is the MD/CEO, APT Securities and Funds Limited, member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard Business, he reflected the good days of stock exchange in Nigeria. Excerpts:
How would you describe the capital market in Nigeria?
Anybody that looks at the capital market in Nigeria will believe that we have gone far. We have attained a certain level whereby no matter what you think, you will still thank God.
This is the industry that is almost 50 years, from the inception to date, and except in 1997, 1998, 1999 and what we experienced in 2008, 2009 and 2010, our own shares were positive. And this is the market that started with less than 15 securities . Today, we are proud of not less than 300 securities outfits in the whole country.
This is the market that started with almost nothing and then apart from Lagosians, nobody else played the market.
When and how did capital market start as a business in Nigeria?
It was by the grace of the General Yakubu Gowon’s regime through the vision of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who came with the 1973 indigenisation decree. That was the beginning of the capital market in Nigeria.
I remember at that time, business bodies like Nigerian Bottling Company, UAC, many of them, were compelled to divest from their funding with the general public of Nigeria. UAC then issued one million units to each of these. That is why today, there is no state in this country that doesn’t have a shareholder of the UAC and this was by the virtue of the 1973 decree.
Read More:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/stock-exchange-in-nigeria-started-well-kurfi/
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