Sadiku: This is the Best Time to Invest in Nigeria

                                                             Ms. Yewande Sadiku

By Nume Ekeghe
The Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, Ms. Yewande Sadiku has  advised investors to take advantage of the opportunities in the Nigerian markets.

According to Sadiku, this is the best time for  foreign  and domestic investors to come into the country.
She said this while speaking on the recent devaluation of the currency and its effect on the capital market on the side lines of an event organised by the League of Abriba Professionals (LeAP) economic empowerment seminar in Lagos recently.
Speaking on its effect on the capital market she said, “There are many things that affect the capital market, devaluation is just one of them. And there are different perspectives you can look at from. If I was a foreign investor bringing dollars to Nigeria, pre-devaluation I would get N155 for a dollar, post devaluation I could get N168 for a dollar so there is a positive on the one side.”

She said the capital market was  dependent on a number of things and devaluation is one of them. “In reality, if you take devaluation on its own you are probably going to miss the big picture. We need to look at it in the contest of the price of oil.”

“And even when they had the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the expectation was that the OPEC meeting last Thursday would mean that a lot of things would have happened, that OPEC members would agree to cut production so that the oil prices can firm up.
“They decided instead to leave production as they are because they are thinking not only of the oil producing countries, they are thinking more broadly of the implications of the US production of shale oil,” she explained.

Continuing, she said: “It a fantastic time for foreign investors to bring money to Nigeria because they can get more naira. Securities are cheaper so you can buy more shares more cheaply because these shares  will recover.  If an investor has a long term view, it is indeed a good time to be looking at picking up bargains in the stock market.”

She said the economy had overcome more stringent situations in the past and the need for businesses to be prudent.
“Nigeria has been through difficult times before, oil has traded at some $40 during the crisis 2008 and many businesses struggled but the businesses that are more resilient would survive it.

“It is not only businesses that would struggle, you and I because the things we buy that are imported would be more expensive now. Also the minister for Finance talked about belt tightening so it is the same thing small businesses need to do,” she said.

Speaking also at the event, the LeAP President, Mr. Chidi Anya said through the sponsorship and partnership with FirstBank,  the organisation had revamped the educational structure at Abriba town, amongst others.
He said: “Like all things in life, what we owe each other is to give back whether it is with knowledge, or position, you must go back and give back.

“It is all still about empowering our people, our vision is to make sure that our youth are gainfully employed and also give them a mind-set to be entrepreneur.
“We are planning to build a skilled acquisition centre in Abriba and with people can earn money which would lead to more people being empowered.”

Culled from: http://www.thisdaylive.com