ABUJA: Nigeria's Communications and Technology Minister Omobola Johnson has again called on information, communications and technology firms in the country to be listed on the Stock Market in an effort to boost the economy. It comes after telecoms have largely rebuked efforts to list on the stock exchange, saying it will hurt their ability to continue to offer lower rates to customers and adversely affect profit margins. She urged them to emulate Morvest, a leading provider of business support services and ICT solutions with about N1.6 billion investment in Nigeria, which has recently listed on the exchange. She said that by listing on the stock market, it will increase wealth accumulation in the country. Speaking at the re-launch of Morvest Business Group in Abuja, Johnson said one of the reasons she wanted the companies listed was,that “this company is bringing value-added services” and added that others could follow quickly behind. Her speech was a response to the presentation of the company led by its Managing Director, Louw Cilliers, and CEO, Mohammed Varachia. “Morvest has the capacity and expertise to transfer technology to African markets such as Nigeria, and so help address the technology gap currently preventing African businesses from competing effectively worldwide,” she said. According to the minister, “Value added companies like this have the capacity to create jobs, both skilled and unskilled jobs. It fits into the Transformation Agenda … we have a GDP that is growing without a commensurate growth in jobs and wealth creation. For an economy that is growing 7 – 10 percent per annum, there should be reflection of that growth in the creation of jobs and the creation of wealth.” BM
