NSE embraces Industrial Revolution technology for market expansion

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has said it was considering the use of some major emerging technologies to further deepen investors’ participation and enhance the efficiencies of products and services in the stock market.

With opinion that the country had lost on the first to third industrial evolution, the  NSE affirmed that it was on top of  its game by leveraging on the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to investigate the market potential of key emerging technologies in order to advancement its services.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Exchange, Oscar Onyema, at the 4th edition of The Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Bloomberg CEO Roundtable in Lagos said the organisation was targeting emerging technologies to empower a larger proportion of the populace to access the capital market; and unlock efficiencies in product and service delivery for capital market operators.

At the event with the theme, “Reshaping the Nigerian Economy for Sustainable Growth: Leveraging the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a Catalyst for Advancement”, Onyema said the ideas generated in the past editions of the roundtable had provided the Exchange with more insights in carrying out its advocacy efforts with policy makers, and some of these ideas had been implemented and gone ahead to spur a rebound of the economy.

However, he noted that this year’s edition of the CEO Roundtable was designed not only to discuss frameworks for economic turnaround, but explore how to position the Nigerian economy for sustained growth.

“Today, most of the world’s developed economies have begun to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which has integrated digital, physical and even biological technologies, with clear impacts on unlocking latent economic value, with far reaching effects that have led to disruption of certain industries and creation of new ones. The opportunity the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents is unlike any other, as the barriers to entry are low, with an upside that is vast and yet to be quantified,” he said.

Fikayo Akeredolu, country manager Bloomberg , however noted that having missed out on the opportunities and benefits associated with the first, second and third industrial revolution, Nigeria’s emergence from volatile economic cycles will come from serious planning and a devotion to investment in infrastructure, allowing her to take advantage of the benefits within the fourth industrial revolution.

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The fourth industrial revolution primarily builds on the third which comprises the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century with the use of electronics and information technology to automate production.

The fourth industrial revolution is thus characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

Shola Akinlade co-founder/CEO of PayStack who spoke on where Nigeria stands today in terms of the fourth industrial revolution was of the opinion that Nigeria has begun taking advantage of the opportunities that abounds with technology.

“Gone are those days when we wait for people to come solve our problems,” Akinlade said. Explaining that, with his and his partner’s local education, they were able to build a software that could enhance payment solutions and record successes drawing the attention of some of the biggest companies in the world, such as Visa barely two years into their existence.

Jubril Enakele the CEO of Zenith Capital Limited, reiterated the need to catch up with the rest of the world, especially when it comes to financing.

According to him, the first, second and third industrial revolution which had to deal with energy and electricity, generation of computers and IT to drive productivity is quite different from the fourth industrial revolution which he feels is about communication and interconnectivity of these technologies earlier developed.

“It is possible for Nigeria to benefit from the fourth industrial revolution but we need to catch up, because it started years ago and for Nigeria it’s late,“ he said.

Speaking from the angle of investors, Titi Odunfa Adeoye, the founder and managing director of Sankore Investments said that Nigeria needed more technology stars such as Paystack for investors to actively engage with.

“The space is relatively narrow. We think that it is important for there to be a broader range of innovation, because what is going on in Nigeria is just at the beginning.