Toriola, Lamido, Tijani Express Optimism For Nigeria At MTN’s Capital Markets Days

The MTN Capital Markets Day, which held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on November 14 and 15, had in attendance top personalities in Nigeria’s political and business space.

Among the guests were Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy; Hon. Solomon Bob, Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Markets; Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and 14th Emir of Kano, and other prominent national leaders.

In his opening speech, the MTN CEO, Karl Toriola said, “I am encouraged and excited at the prospect of a liberal economic reform agenda for Nigeria that presents an opportunity to unleash its latent growth potential. The recognition that private sector investment will be critical to that is clear, and we are already seeing steps being taken to enable the business environment. We believe that Nigeria continues to present significant opportunities for us to deliver inclusive growth and expand access to connectivity while also supporting the drive for financial inclusion.”

Lamido Sanusi, former Governor, CBN, praised the current CBN.

He said, “The CBN is doing the right things in the short run by tightening money, clearing backlogs, and trying to fund the market. What they need to focus on beyond the next 12 months are structural issues like the NNPC not bringing enough money to the central bank and conversion to CNG.”

It is noteworthy that the optimistic view expressed by the former CBN Governor is a positive indicator for the economy and investors, considering his decade-long role as a staunch government critic.

Nigeria’s digital economy was a major highlight of the event as the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, said, “Not only is this (telecom) sector now responsible for driving significant progress and productivity in our economy, but for those who are following, we contributed over 18% of the GDP of our nation last quarter, which is quite significant for just one sector.”

He, therefore, urged the private sector to engage more with the government because “The best way for policies to work is for the private sector and investors to be willing to build with the government. For the private sector and investors to understand that whilst the government may be interested in opening up, the government will never learn if you don’t come and be part of building that economy.”

The two-day event featured a series of presentations and panel sessions. Some of the other participants included CEO of Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Temi Popoola;  Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman of MTN Nigeria and many more.