Nigerian Stock Exchange - Afrikan Heroes

Key Reasons Why Bundle Africa Ceased Exchange Operations

July 22, 2023

In a significant shift of focus, Bundle Africa, the prominent social payments app for cash and cryptocurrency, recently announced the closure of its exchange services after three years of operation. This decision, made by the company’s shareholders, comes as part of a strategic effort to restructure the business and adapt to the evolving needs of the crypto ecosystem. Instead of its exchange services, Bundle Africa will now concentrate on its peer-to-peer platform, Cashlink. This move reflects the growing influence of Web3 and the blockchain community, prompting the company to align its services with the demands of the dynamic digital landscape. In this article, we delve into the key reasons behind Bundle Africa’s decision to shut down its exchange operations and explore the broader context of Africa’s rapidly expanding crypto market.

Restructuring for Focus on Cashlink: After three years of operations, Bundle Africa decided to shut down its exchange services. The company’s shareholders made this decision to restructure the business. Instead of continuing its exchange services, Bundle will now concentrate on its peer-to-peer platform called Cashlink.
Emphasis on Web3 and Blockchain: The company cited the growth of the Web3 and blockchain community as a key factor in its decision to focus on payment solutions that meet the ecosystem’s needs. Cashlink, as a peer-to-peer platform, aligns better with the evolving requirements of the blockchain community.
Shifting User Base and Volume: Bundle Africa reported a significant milestone with 50,000 monthly active users and a $50 million monthly volume on its exchange services. This indicates a growing interest in crypto and digital assets within Africa.
Closure of Exchange Operations in African Crypto Industry: Bundle’s cessation of operations reflects a broader trend in the African crypto industry, where some startups faced challenges and had to make difficult decisions. For instance, Nestcoin, a Nigerian crypto startup, faced issues related to the collapse of FTX, leading to layoffs. Fluidcoins, another Nigerian crypto startup, was acquired by Bitfinex after failing to raise sufficient funds to continue operations. Lazerpay, a web3 and crypto payment company, also shut down due to funding difficulties.
Leadership Changes: In 2021, Yele Bademosi, the founder of Bundle Africa, stepped down as CEO to explore other opportunities and areas that required support within the African crypto community. Emmanuel Babalola, the current director of Binance Africa, took over as the interim CEO of Bundle. This could have also influenced or frustrated the vision and mission of the company.
Regulatory Challenges: Despite the crypto market’s growth in Africa, there have been regulatory challenges. For example, Nigeria’s markets regulator ordered Binance to halt operations in the country, and there were ongoing discussions about regulating digital assets.

Why Investors Backed Rwandan Startup Kasha with $21 Million in Series B Funding to Transform Women’s Health

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

Nigeria’s SEC Gets $400,000 Grant for Capital Market Development

March 8, 2021

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema

The need to develop the capital market in Nigeria has attracted the attention of the African Development Bank Group which provides $400,000 grant for the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria to support this process. The funds will go towards strengthening the risk-based supervision framework, regulation of derivatives and green bonds, and build capacity for green finance.The agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission will help strengthen securities market regulation and broaden market instruments.

The funds will go towards strengthening the risk-based supervision framework, regulation of derivatives and green bonds, and build capacity for green finance. The grant will be sourced from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund, a multi-donor fund administered by the Bank.

“This collaboration further underscores our mutual goal to grow our markets and create viable avenues for sustainable economic development for Nigeria and the region,” said Lamido Yuguda, Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission at the virtual signing ceremony.

The grant is aligned with the priorities of the Bank’s Country Strategy for Nigeria, which envisages measures to stimulate capital market development to unlock financial resources for productive sector investments, infrastructure development and private sector growth.

According to Lamin Barrow, Senior Director of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Department there is the urgency of the implementation of the project “at a time when countries are striving to build back better from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, improvement of the enabling regulatory and supervision framework will boost domestic resource mobilisation efforts and leverage private sector contributions to achieve a greener, more environmentally sustainable and inclusive post-pandemic recovery,” Barrow said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema thanked the African Development Bank Group and the Securities and Exchange Commission “for this historic event and partnership, to build in-house capacity at SEC, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, issuers and investors in the sustainable finance space, which will help to meet climate finance commitments in Nigeria.”

The project will support the implementation of the SEC’s Nigeria Capital Market Master Plan 2015-2025 and its vision to position Nigeria’s capital market as a competitive and attractive destination for portfolio investments.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Nigerian Stock Exchange Gets Bigger As It Becomes A Public Company

March 7, 2020

Mr Oscar Onyema OON, CEO of the new NEXG

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is going to be publicly listed with an authorized share capital of N1.25 billion (US$3.4 million), consisting of 2.5 billion ordinary shares at 50k per share, as the NSE’s dealing and ordinary members unanimously voted for the bourse to transform from a member-owned exchange to a publicly-quoted company.

“With the separation of the regulatory activities from the business activities, we would begin to see a different type of organization, an organization that is really driven for profit, hitting on all cylinders.

“While the regulatory company will provide all the regulation that needs to happen to ensure that we are running according to global best practices which should be attractive to large corporates that are looking for a well ran exchange to list their companies,” Mr Oscar Onyema OON, the CEO of the new NEXG said.

Here Is All You Need To Know

The historic event, which took place following a court-ordered extraordinary general meeting of all the dealing and ordinary members of the Exchange, at the Civic Centre Victoria Island, Lagos, had the NSE change its name to Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, which is a holding company thereby separating its regulatory functions from its other business activities.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NEXG) having satisfied all requirements of being a public quoted company according to the scheme document for the demutualization would have 1, 964,115,918 number of shares allotted and deemed to be fully paid in a split ownership of 78% to 22% between dealing and ordinary members of the Exchange. Prior to the determination of the ownership structure of the Exchange, 2% of its authorized share capital was set aside to settle outstanding claims arising from the demutualization.
All assets, liabilities, and undertakings, including real property in relation to the trading business of the Exchange, are to be retained by NEXG.
The securities exchange license of NSE, along with all assets and existing contracts required to carry out securities and exchange functions would be transferred to NEXG.
The regulatory function of the NSE along with all assets and existing contracts that will be required to carry out regulatory function would also be transferred to NEXG.
However, Mr Onyema disclosed that the group would move from having a council to having a board of directors with about 5 to 6 independent directors coming on board. He added that the new structure and offerings of the group should encourage big corporates to list on the exchange.
However, the report and result of the court-ordered meeting are to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to obtain the final copy of the scheme, thereafter, the necessary petition will be made to the Federal High Court to sanction the scheme.
Once sanctioned by the court and registration done with the Corporate Affairs Commission, demutualization is effective.

“So when you operate as a profit entity the first thing that you are going to see is enhanced performance, competition, deepening of the market, foreign investors looking at the Nigerian Stock Exchange to invest, flexibility in the products and much more.

“We will be operating as a public entity now a for-profit entity so the first transformation that is going to happen will be the decoupling of the membership rights and ownership rights. Prior to this demutualization, you had only the dealing members and the ordinary members, now that is going to be different,” Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo, chairman of the board said about the benefits of demutualization.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com

Mutual Funds Investment In Nigeria Shoots Through The Roof. Hits Over $2 billion

June 24, 2019

Mutual money managers in Nigeria are having the best of fun. Figures from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission show that it is one sector of the country’s Stock Exchange that is still making profit. The value of mutual funds investment hit N746.5bn at the end of May 2019 according to SEC.

Mutual funds are professionally-managed investment programs that pool money from many investors to purchase securities.
They are made up of ethical funds, equity-based funds, money market funds, bonds funds, fixed income funds, real estate investment funds, and mixed funds.

A Break Down of The Figures

The figures show that:

Money market fund, which invests only in highly liquid instruments such as cash, cash equivalent securities and high credit rating debt-based securities with a short-term maturity — less than 13 months-recorded the highest investment of N563.9bn, made up of funds pooled from 19 investment schemes.
Money market funds offer high liquidity with a very low level of risk.

The Schemes Under The Fund Are:

Top Money Managers

S/N	NAME OF COMPANY	VALUE OF MONEY MARKET FUND (NAIRA)
1	Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund ()	262.66 billion
2	FBN Money Market Fund ()	163.27 billion
3	ARM Money Market Fund	57.88 billion
4	AXA Mansard Money Market Fund	25.73 billion
5	Abacus Money Market Fund	9.88 billion
6	Zenith Money Market Fund	7.52 billion
7	EDC Money Market Fund Class A)	6.16 billion
8	Cordros Money Market Fund	5.83 billion
9	Coronation Money Market Fund	5.82 billion
10	Legacy Money Market Fund	5.42 billion
11	United Capital Money Market Fund	4.58 billion
12	Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund	3.24 billion
13	Chapel Hill Denham Money Market Fund	1.62 billion
14	AIICO Money Market Fund	979 million
15	GDL Money Market Fund	953 million
16	Meristem Money Market Fund	782 million
17	PACAM Money Market Fund	601 million
18	Afrinvest Plutus Fund	596 million
19	EDC Money Market Fund Class B	368 million

The top three fund managers under the money market fund were:

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited
FBN Capital Asset Management Limited
Asset & Resources Management Company Limited.

Fixed income funds increased by 11.56 percent month-on-month to N78.27bn from N70.16bn in April.

Real estate funds, pooled from three sources:

Skye Shelter Fund
Union Homes REITs
UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund –

Real estate funds stood at N45.55bn, an increase of 0.73 percent from the N45.22bn recorded in April.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

MTN Nigeria Lists On The Nigerian Stock Exchange Today

May 16, 2019

MTN Nigeria is expected to sound the gong and begin trading on the Nigerian Stock today. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, MTN Nigerian would be listing a total of 20,354,513,050 shares at N90 per share today.

When listed at N90 per share, MTN Nigeria would emerge the second largest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange after Dangote Cement, with a market capitalisation of N1.83tn. So investors should get their money handy.

A shopper walks past an MTN shop at a mall in Johannesburg, South Africa, March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Key Things To Note About This Listing By MTN Nigeria

In March 2019, MTN announced its earnings for the 2018 financial year, recording growth above inflation in full service revenue of 17.2 per cent and the addition of nearly six million new subscribers to the network. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) was N453.1bn and the company expanded EBITDA margins to 43.6 per cent (excluding the CBN resolution amount)

The company, also, recently announced aN48.4 billion Profit After Tax, PAT, for its first quarter, Q1, ended March 31, 2019, representing 50.2 percent increase compared to N32.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2018.

MTN claims it can pay up to 80% of its earnings after tax as dividends.

The company just acquired more 607,462 new internet users in February, increasing MTN’s data subscription to 46,538,633 as against 45,931,171 in January

MTN said the proposed listing on the NSE would create a new telecoms asset class for investors and provide a wider group of Nigerians with a chance to participate in the MTN investment opportunity.

The listing on the NSE is one of the conditions reached in the resolution of the N330bn fine placed on the telco by the Nigerian Communications Commission for its inability to disconnect improperly registered SIM cards.

Related: MTN Nigeria Prepares To List On the Nigerian Stocxk Exchange, Converts To A Public Company

MTN is not going to list through IPO, but by introduction in the first half of 2019. Listing by introduction means MTN is not offering its shares fully to the public yet.

Listing by Introduction

To be able to list by introduction, the company would usually have raised capital prior to applying to list, and also must meet the listing requirements — including a minimum number of public shareholders (300 to list on the Main Board; 51 to list on the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) and minimum public float (20% for the Main Board; 15% for ASeM). ASeM provides a platform for small and mid-sized fast growth companies to raise critical long term capital at relatively low cost to realize their business potential.

What does this mean?

“It means that we will list the company in the initial phases without any public offer or sell-down or initial public offering. I think this will enable us to get the company listed whilst the market still digests the implications of what has happened over the last few months,” The President/Chief Executive Officer, MTN Group, Mr. Rob Shuter, disclosed at the MTN Group’s investor update conference call in February.

“We will in phase two be doing a project to increase the Nigerian participation in MTN Nigeria, targeting more a free float of around 35 per cent than the free float we have today which is around 20 per cent. So, we aim to conclude at least the listing by introduction in the first half of 2019, pretty much as soon as we can, and then subject to market conditions, appetite and demand we would in phase two do the sell-down.’’

Can You Invest In MTN Nigeria’s Shares Now?

By the NSE’s Rules, MTN would need at least a minimum number of 300 public shareholders to able to list on the Main Board of the NSE where it is listing by introduction.

Since MTN is going by way of introduction, it may not able to open a larger portion of its shares for subscription as we have noted above. What is going to happen today is that MTN Nigeria would simply introduce the shares privately owned by its shareholders while it was still a private company on the Main Board of the NSE.

However, it would need at least 300 public shareholders to be able to fully comply with the NSE rules. What to watch out for is that a few of its private shareholders may get to sell their shares if the share prices are favourable to them, to keep the excitement on.

**Operational and financial performance review, 2010**

How To Prepare Yourself Better for MTN Nigeria’s Listing

Once there is a willing seller for MTN Nigeria’s shares today who is ready to accept your offer price, then you have got a deal.

However, to participate in MTN’s shares, or other shares of companies you need to do the following:

Open stock brokerage account with a stockbroker registered in Nigeria. Here is a link to some of the stock brokerage firms in Nigeria;

Have any amount of money as you want deposited into your stock brokerage account.

Then notify your stockbroker to purchase shares for you at a price you quote.

However, if you operate an online trading account on the same online stock brokerage account, then without wasting much time, place an online bid for the shares and hope that an offer is available for you at the right price.

There you have it! A deal is sealed once your bid is accepted.

A email notification alarms you of the transaction.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

BREAKING: Startups, SMEs In Nigeria Can Now List on The Nigerian Stock Exchange

May 13, 2019

There is now the fourth board on the Nigerian Stock Exchange meant for small businesses and startups. The board, known as the Growth Board will offer startups and small businesses the opportunity to raise equities for their businesses. All the startups and the SMEs need to do is to obtain approval from the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission and then list their shares for public subscription.

The New Framework For Startups, SMEs

The framework for the operation of the new listing platform at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), to be known as growth board, has been approved by Nigerian apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The framework creates two segments on the growth board for start-ups, micro and small companies and medium-sized companies.

Start-ups and small companies are denoted by market capitalisation of between N50million and N500million while medium-sized enterprises are companies with market capitalisation of between N500million and N4billion.

Start-ups and small companies are expected to be listed on the first segment, known as entry segment, while medium-sized companies will be listed on the second segment, known as standard segment.

The growth board will be the fourth board at the NSE. There are three existing listing boards at the Exchange, including premium board-for large-cap companies that meet additional requirements on dedicated corporate governance assessment, main board- the general board for all companies that meet the specific stringent listing rules and alternative securities market (ASeM), which provides listing for quotable companies that cannot meet or sustain listing requirements for the main board.

Requirements For Listing

For any company to be listed on the growth board, it must be a duly incorporated public limited liability company with at least two years of operations, audited financial statements in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and must have grown its revenue by a minimum of 20 per cent cumulatively in its last two years of operations.

Also, all companies to be listed on the growth board must undertake that their promoters or directors shall retain a minimum of 50 per cent of their shares for a minimum period of 12 months from date of their listing, and that the directors or promoters shall not directly or indirectly sell or offer to sell such securities during that 12-month period.

The framework meanwhile provides alternative requirements for listing for each segment.

Under the entry segment, a new business may be considered for listing if it can provide evidence of investment in it by a core investor or a strong technical partner that has a minimum of two years’ operating track record, or a majority shareholder, who is either a High Net Worth Individual (HNI) or is a director of a listed company.

Under Nigerian rules, High Net-worth Individual is an individual with net worth of more than N100 million.

Besides, companies heading for the entry segment must have market capitalization of not less than N50 million, a minimum of 10 per cent of its shares available or to be available to minority retail investors and at least 25 shareholders.

Under the standard segment, a new business may be considered for listing if it can provide evidence of a core investor or a strong technical partner who has a minimum of four years operating track record, or a majority shareholder who is a HNI.

The company must also have a minimum market capitalization of N500million, at least 15 per cent of its shares must be held or will be held by minority retail shareholders and it must have a minimum of 51 shareholders.

The NSE stated that it aims to use the growth board for greater global visibility for eligible Nigerian entities and foreign companies in order to engender global capital flows.

The new board is designed to support SMEs’ growth as part of the strategic initiatives by the stock market to enhance its traditional roles as catalyst for economic growth and development.

Also See: More Funds – Now Available For Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises

SMEs and start-ups account for more than 90 per cent of businesses in Nigeria and provide about 85 per cent of employment, according to various national and international data.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

MTN Nigeria Prepares To List On The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Converts To A Public Company

April 24, 2019

Investors should get their money ready as MTN Nigeria has finally converted from a private to a public company and is now ready to invite members of the public to subscribe to its shares. The conversion is to fulfill the requirement of the Nigerian Stock Exchange whose guidelines say that to be qualified to list in Nigeria, a company must be registered as a public limited company with no restrictions on the transfer of fully paid shares; have a minimum of three (3) years’ operating track record; have a pre-tax profit from continuing operation of not less than N300million cumulatively for the last three (3) fiscal years and a minimum of N100 million in two (2) of these years.

A Look At The New MTN Nigeria Plc

In March 2019, MTN announced its earnings for the 2018 financial year, recording growth above inflation in full service revenue of 17.2 per cent and the addition of nearly six million new subscribers to the network.
The company announced Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of N453.1bn and expanded EBITDA margins to 43.6 per cent (excluding the CBN resolution amount).
The company also added 4.5 million active data customers in 2018, delivering data revenue growth of 39.3 per cent and expanding to 18.7 million the number of people that it connects to the possibilities that the Internet provides.
The company just acquired more 607,462 new internet users in February, increasing MTN’s data subscription to 46,538,633 as against 45,931,171 in January.
MTN said the proposed listing on the NSE would create a new telecoms asset class for investors and provide a wider group of Nigerians with a chance to participate in the MTN investment opportunity.
MTN is not going to list through IPO, but by introduction in the first half of 2019. Listing by introduction means MTN is not offering its shares to the public yet.
The President/Chief Executive Officer, MTN Group, Mr. Rob Shuter, disclosed at the MTN Group’s investor update conference call in February of what listing by introduction means.

“It means that we will list the company in the initial phases without any public offer or sell-down or initial public offering. I think this will enable us to get the company listed whilst the market still digests the implications of what has happened over the last few months,”

He added, “We will in phase two be doing a project to increase the Nigerian participation in MTN Nigeria, targeting more a free float of around 35 per cent than the free float we have today which is around 20 per cent. So, we aim to conclude at least the listing by introduction in the first half of 2019, pretty much as soon as we can, and then subject to market conditions, appetite and demand we would in phase two do the sell-down.”

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Afrikan Heroes

Tag: Nigerian Stock Exchange

Key Reasons Why Bundle Africa Ceased Exchange Operations

Nigeria’s SEC Gets $400,000 Grant for Capital Market Development

Kelechi Deca

Nigerian Stock Exchange Gets Bigger As It Becomes A Public Company

Here Is All You Need To Know

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Mutual Funds Investment In Nigeria Shoots Through The Roof. Hits Over $2 billion

A Break Down of The Figures

The Schemes Under The Fund Are:

Top Money Managers

The top three fund managers under the money market fund were:

Real estate funds, pooled from three sources:

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

MTN Nigeria Lists On The Nigerian Stock Exchange Today

Key Things To Note About This Listing By MTN Nigeria

Related: MTN Nigeria Prepares To List On the Nigerian Stocxk Exchange, Converts To A Public Company

Listing by Introduction

What does this mean?

Can You Invest In MTN Nigeria’s Shares Now?

How To Prepare Yourself Better for MTN Nigeria’s Listing

However, to participate in MTN’s shares, or other shares of companies you need to do the following:

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

BREAKING: Startups, SMEs In Nigeria Can Now List on The Nigerian Stock Exchange

The New Framework For Startups, SMEs

Requirements For Listing

Also See: More Funds – Now Available For Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises

Charles Rapulu Udoh

MTN Nigeria Prepares To List On The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Converts To A Public Company

A Look At The New MTN Nigeria Plc

See Also: Dangote Refinery Plans To Reduce The West African Crude Oil Importation With 650,000 Barrels Per Day

Charles Rapulu Udoh