A United States-based innovator and tech entrepreneur, Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe, says while the Nigerian Stock Exchange has recorded impressive growth in the last eight months under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the irony is that more Nigerians are poorer.
Ndubuisi reacted to an article titled, “In eight months of Tinubu administration, Nigeria’s stock market”, written by Bayo Onanuga, the Presidential aide on Information and Strategy.
Onanuga said NGX achieved 45.90 per cent growth in 2023, the highest compared to S & P 500, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Johannesburg, Ghana Stock SE, and Nairobi SE.
Reacting, Ekekwe said although the growth rate of NGX was factual, the boom in stocks and equities had made many people poorer and depressed.
According to him, foreign investors were not tripping into Nigeria despite the country’s stock growth because of the fall in the value of the Naira and soaring inflation, which was quoted at 28.92 per cent 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.
