…with equities market sustained gains
Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu, has expressed confidence in Nigeria’s economic recovery on the back of fiscal and monetary policies that have steered the country in the right direction.
Elumelu who stated this on the eve of his departure for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland,particularly commended the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, saying that his impressive monetary policy management helped in great measure in steering the country through extremely difficult times.
Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, Elumelu who is also the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, said: “The fruits of patient and judicious central bank interventions are being rewarded by increasing local and international investor confidence, demonstrated by the recent unprecedented performance of the Nigerian equities market and the broader improvement in the domestic macroeconomic environment.”
According to him, the Nigerian stock market, which was ranked one of the top-five best performing bourses in 2017 worldwide, “is, I believe, set for further strong performance this year”.
“Consolidating on the 42 per cent rally in 2017, the benchmark All Share Index has gained 18 per cent year-to-date, an unprecedented return in recent times, driven by renewed local and foreign investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and markets.
“The valuation of the Nigerian market, which is currently on a 14.5x P/E, still trades at a discount to its frontier market peers and more so, at a gross undervaluation to emerging market peers, especially when we take the improving fundamentals of the economy in perspective.
“Further reinforcing prospects for the equities market, is the moderating yield on fixed income securities, given the lower interest rate outlook. I fully expect fund managers to continue to allocate increasing money to Nigerian equities,” he added.
Elumelu said it was gratifying to see how tough, but astute reforms and diligent execution had changed the narrative of an economy and its markets.
“I salute the unwavering tenacity and enterprise of the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, for his initiative in creating the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window and, more importantly, the commitment of the governor in ensuring the efficient functioning of this market.