Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe, a US-based innovator and tech entrepreneur, has opined that while the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) has experienced remarkable growth in the last eight months under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, more Nigerians have become poorer.
This is in response to an article titled “In eight months of Tinubu administration, Nigeria’s stock market” by Bayo Onanuga, the Presidential aide on Information and Strategy.
Ekekwe stated that the NGX had achieved a 45.90% growth in 2023, which is the highest compared to other stock exchanges such as S&P 500, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Johannesburg, Ghana Stock SE, and Nairobi SE.
Ekekwe acknowledges the factual growth rate of NGX but argues that the boom in stocks and equities has made many Nigerians poorer and depressed.
He further explains that despite the country’s stock growth, foreign investors are not showing interest due to the fall in the value of the Naira and the soaring inflation rate, which was quoted at 28.92% in December.
“The Nigeria stock exchange has been growing on absolute Naira, but on the real value, it is not. That statement is factual, but the irony is that the growth, as noted by Bayo, has made many people poorer and depressed the overall value of the stock market.
“That is why foreign investors are not coming for that 45 per cent gain because if you made 45 per cent on equity but lost 50 per cent on currency, with 30 per cent on inflation, you are poorer”, he said.
At the close of work on Friday, the NGX’s All-share index recorded an all-time high of 94,538.12 points, gaining 2.87 per cent.
The development comes as the NGX’s All-Share Index grew by 45.90 per cent in 2023.