The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advocated some measures of fiscal incentives for listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in order to mitigate their cost burden and encourage more entities to list shares on the bourse.
A statement from SEC quoted the Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk, to have advocated the fiscal necessity on the sidelines of the Alliance Law Firm’s Maiden Lecture Series, Luncheon and Book Presentation event with the theme: “Contemporary Corporate Governance Issues in Nigeria” in Lagos.
Ms. Udok also said SEC believed that creating some form of fiscal incentives for listed entities would add further mileage to ongoing effort to improve corporate governance in the country.
Represented at the event by the Director, Zonal Offices Coordinating Department (ZOCD), Mr. Edward Okolo,-an investment expert, she cited experiences with some investors in the manufacturing sector who claimed that despite fulfilling their fiscal obligations, the nation’s public procurement and contractual processes had continued to favour foreign companies to their disadvantage.
“The best is to begin to give them some incentives, and with that you have more companies coming to the market, you have more jobs and then people will have dividends of investing,” she noted.
