OPENING REMARKS BY ALH (Dr) UMARU KWAIRANGA AT THE BOARD INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SHANGHAI STOCK EXCHANGE AND THE NIGERIAN EXCHANGE GROUP (NGX) ON MONDAY 16th JUNE 2025 AT THE SHANGHAI STOCK EXCHANGE, SHANGHAI CHINA.
Let me begin by expressing our appreciation for the warm welcome from you and your team.
There is so much to admire and say about the progress that the People’s Republic of China has achieved in its long history as one of the bastions of civilisation and most recently in the last five decades. Faced with various competitors and adversaries at different stages of your history, this nation has always found the will to overcome obstacles and come out stronger and more respected. Your nation has overcome many challenges and is now recognized as an economic powerhouse, a manufacturing titan and a key driver of the world’s economy.
That success is mirrored in the Shanghai Stock Exchange which has in a little over three decades of its re-establishment become one of the world’s leading exchanges with a market capitalization of over six trillion dollars.
There are many similarities between China and Nigeria. Just like China, Nigeria has a diverse and hardworking population that is the largest in Africa. Nigeria’s economy is driven by small and medium scale enterprises but there is a large public sector with government owned enterprises controlling significant portions of the economy.
In terms of exchanges, Nigeria has several but the first and foremost is the Nigerian Exchange Group which was founded more than sixty years ago and presently has over four hundred listed securities and a market capitalization of about 325 billion Chinese yuan. This is small compared to the capitalization of some companies I see quoted on your board, but we are determined to multiply those numbers with the assistance of your exchange and China’s entrepreneurial citizens.
So we are here to congratulate you on your success as a nation and an Exchange but, more importantly, to learn from your experiences as a vibrant, innovative, technology driven exchange in a bustling economy.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange was established more than Sixty years ago but it was just over three years ago that we transformed from a mutual organisation limited by guarantee to a for Profit Public Company owned by and run for the benefit of thousands of shareholders. That transformation has come with various challenges in such areas as governance and regulation, technology, market expansion and product development and cost optimisation and profitability.
We know that the Shanghai Stock Exchange has most probably tackled and surmounted similar challenges and so we look forward to learning from your experience and partnering with you to move forward very quickly.
In a highly competitive, fast evolving borderless world, we think that engagements and collaborations will determine the survival and growth of exchanges such as ours and that there are many areas for cooperation between the SSE and the NGX.
So, we are here to share; collaborate; learn and to partner with you and look forward to tremendous benefits from both sides at the end of this visit.
Thank you.
Alh (Dr) Umaru Kwairanga
Chairman NGX
Nigeria Stock Exchange.
