The Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed presented a lucid and detailed paper on how the Nigerian Capital market had in the past enhanced economic growth and development and the need to further exploit such opportunities. I wanted to ask a few questions after her presentation but realized that she represented President Muhammadu Buhari to declare the Workshop open. Therefore, her address was like a priest’s sermon which cannot be questioned while on the pulpit.
I pointed out that the misalignment of fiscal and monetary policies undermines integration of the money and capital market to the detriment of the latter. I asked what the government is doing to create an enabling environment to encourage more participation of foreign investors, hedge funds, private equity firms, venture capitalists and pension administrators on the market.
Sensing her positive body language about the Conference, I added that its objective is to build innovative conversations on “optimizing some elements of the capital markets to improve economic development and sustainable growth in Nigeria.