Nigeria is an oil-dependent country and not an oil-rich country, according to Dr. Doyin Salami, a full-time member of the faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS) and former member of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee. He revealed this while speaking at the Business Breakfast meeting organized by the NASD PLC Exchange company and held at the La Scala restaurant, Muson centre in Lagos on Thursday.

While discussing the economic outlook for Nigeria in 2019 at the breakfast meeting, he advised businessmen to divest themselves from the thought that Nigeria is “oil-rich”.

“They say Nigeria is oil-rich, Saudi Arabia is oil-rich, Nigeria is oil dependent. Nigeria does 2 million barrels of crude oil per day, then at least 365 days roughly 800 million barrels of crude oil annually. If there are 200 million of us, that means each person (Nigerian) is entitled to 4 barrels of crude oil every year but do the Saudi numbers…Saudi is doing 10 million barrels of crude oil daily, and that is being conservative by the way. So 4 billion barrels annually and they have 30 million people to share it. For succeeding in waking up every morning, each Saudi is entitled to roughly 6 thousand US dollars; now we can decide which one is oil-rich and which one is oil dependent.” he said.

As the keynote speaker at the Business meeting, he gave predictions on the factors that would drive Nigeria’s economy in 2019; price of oil, from which the country derives most of its revenue, successful general elections, which would indicate to investors of the country’s stable political climate, the policy direction of whoever wins the elections, domestic policy including the annual budget, interest rates in Nigeria will remain up, increase in taxes, etc. These key factors will be important for investors looking to invest in the country in 2019.

“It’s not cloudy, it’s not rain but the sun isn’t about to come out anytime soon,” he concluded.

The NASD PLC Exchange company is one of Nigeria’s foremost OTC exchange platforms. It was registered as an SRO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria in July 2013. The securities exchange company prides itself on its ability to bring together stakeholders in capital flows to a safe and transparent environment like its guiding philosophy – creating liquidity transparently. The Business Breakfast meeting was an opportunity to celebrate operators who have gainfully used the NASD OTC market and also showcase the unique opportunities NASD OTC Securities Exchange can provide Nigerian businesses in the future.

According to Bola Ajomale, the Managing Director of NASD PLC, the OTC company recorded around 25 million transactions in 2018. He further said the company has been able to leverage on fintech to provide platforms in the secondary market for unlisted companies. The first, NASDeP – the NASD Enterprise Portal (NASDeP) is a platform designed for early-stage entrepreneurial companies seeking for funds. It is also for managers who are looking to invest, and already know what to invest in.

NASDeP provides a platform “for companies to attract innovative private enterprises seeking investments, as well as offer accredited investors’ unparalleled access to high yield potential investments.” according to Mr. Ajomale.

Its second platform is BITS – Bilateral Interdealer Trading System, a platform where dealers can communicate with one another online from anywhere in the world. The most outstanding companies on BITS were Apel Asset, which conducted the Highest number of deals on the platform and AFRINVEST Securities, which conducted the largest value of deals.

The third platform will be an information portal where stockbrokers can observe the market within a short period. They would be able to engage with the market without logging into the market.

Other awardees at the event include: