Uduk says private equity firms agents of economic growth



The Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Mary Uduk, has said that Private Equity (PE) firms are important agents of business and economic growth, as they bring capital to business.

Uduk spoke at the Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie (UUBO) second private equity summit with the theme: ‘Drivers, Disruptors and Unlocking Value’, held in Lagos, weekend.

The acting Director-General said there was a nexus between adequate capital and business growth as such capital helps businesses grow, generates profits for the investors, creates socio-economic benefits to the consumers, and enhances overall growth of the economy.

“Towards this, the Commission is working on Rules and Regulations to ease participation of, and disclosures, by more PE funds. Initiatives in registering and developing the FinTech space in the capital market will also provide good opportunities for PE firms to invest in innovative start-ups operating in in the capital market.

“The ISA 2007 empowers the Securities and Exchange Commission to register PE Funds. Based on their scope and the need to attract investors such as the Pension Funds, many PE firms and Infrastructure funds (often structured as PE), file their returns with the Commission,” Uduk said.

“It is therefore my hope that the outcome of this Summit will impact greatly and positively on the PE segment of our market, the capital market in general and our economy as a whole.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Niyi Adebayo, delivering a keynote on ‘Fostering an enabling environment for investment in Nigeria’, said that the federal government would seek to localise at least 40 per cent of its expenditure on stipulated goods and services, to facilitate local markets access for Nigerian made products.

The minister said that government had realised that building production capacity alongside strategic partners with strong track record in some priority sectors was critical to success.


Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Founder of Counsel UUBO, stressed the need for private sector participation in the development of the country’s economy.


Udoma said that government must engage private sector to ensure economic expansion, noting that government could not do it alone.

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