The Nigerian Stock Exchange has announced that it will be launching an Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) in April 2013 for Emerging Companies with high potential for growth in Nigeria. ASeM will be a specialised board on the Nigerian bourse where small to mid-sized companies can access the capital market under less stringent rules and requirements to raise long term, low cost capital.

 The Executive Director Business Development of The NSE, Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri stated that “The Nigerian Stock Exchange is a staunch believer in the critical role of emerging enterprises in a developing economy and as such we have taken the bold move of providing a platform for sustainable growth and development of these companies. The ASeM Board will allow issuers, especially indigenous companies the opportunity to inject relatively low cost and long term capital into their businesses through flexible rules that recognize their growth potential rather than the size of operation.”

Shedding light on the possibility of most of the Companies expected on the ASeM board being without any professional guidance and therefore being unable to meet the post listing requirements of The Exchange, Mrs Taba Peterside, The GM Listings Sales and Retention, of The NSE said “Designated Advisers (DA) will be required for all companies listed on the ASeM Board of The Exchange to ensure compliance with all the requirements and obligations of the Alternative Securities Market. The DAs will provide professional resources to qualifying companies for guidance and advice on securities-related matters”.

Information gathered from within The Exchange revealed that The NSE has already completed the selection process for the DAs and are at the verge of announcing the successful applicants in a few days ahead of the official launch of the ASeM Board slated for later this month.

Source: NGSE.