The Nigeria Stock Exchange has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that trading activities are not disrupted as a result of the lockdown, as it puts things in place for companies and investors to have continued access to the market.
The Chief Executive Officer, Oscar Onyema, revealed this on Thursday at the Exchange’s first-of-its-kind Digital Closing Gong on Instagram Live.
He also acknowledged the contributions of a new generation bank in mitigating the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on bank customers.
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Onyema said NSE transitioned to remote working and trading without hassles, leveraging on existing digital assets to keep trading and investment going on unhindered, even amid the lockdown.
He said, “Following the activation of our Business Continuity Plan and our transition to remote working and trading, the Exchange has been resolute in its commitment to ensure there are no disruptions to operations for any of our stakeholders.
“We have leveraged our existing digital assets to ensure continuous flow of information and activity in the market and are looking at how we can deploy creative solutions to enhance our stakeholders’ experience during these unprecedented times.”
Onyema was also excited to sound the closing bell, noting that since the Exchange activated its new working modus where trading activities were virtually done, the tradition had been on hold, and that it was pleasing to “rekindle the tradition.”
He added, “It was particularly exciting for us to rekindle an old tradition and host our first-ever digital closing gong ceremony on Instagram in honour of Sterling Bank’s contributions to the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“This long-held tradition has not happened since we activated our Business Continuity Plan and directed our Dealing Members to conduct trading remotely via our FIX Protocol, X-net and VPN in response to the pandemic.
“Our steady investment in digital transformation over the years is helping us demonstrate resilience in sustaining our business and trading activities in the face of this crisis. We are committed to leveraging technology to keep the market moving.”
While commending the NSE for its strides in the market, the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, admonished Nigerians to “identify and leverage the opportunity” the crisis has presented.
Onyema thanked the federal and state governments, workers, and particularly health workers, at the frontline of the fight against coronavirus.
He also encouraged Nigerians to “stay strong” while complying with the lockdown directive.
