Capital market council meets Osinbajo, says working on national savings strategy

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa had a meeting with the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council (CAMMIC).

Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, Mr Olutola Mobolurin, Chairman of CAMMIC, said the council was working on a National Savings Scheme Strategy for Nigeria.

He said that the strategy would transform the economy if well implemented.

Mobolurin said the council gave its report and also made some requests from the Federal Government.

The chairman said that the vice president listened attentively and asked incisive questions.

“He did not just listen to us,  he asked questions that showed that he was following the market and I believe that the interest he has taken, if it is sustained, will result in very good things for all of us.

“We will like to see a financial system that is all-inclusive, that is not focused only on the banks, that includes the capital market, even insurance companies.

“Two, we will like to see how we can raise the savings rate for Nigeria,  not only from individual savers,  but also on institutional basis because we cannot grow the economy without savings.

“So, we are working on a National Saving Scheme Strategy for Nigeria; if we succeed in that, believe me, we can transform the economy.

“We also want to, as part of that saving strategy, to expand the venture capital and the private equity market to strengthen the financial system and provide to every Nigerian with brilliant ideas, risk capital that they can use in starting their own businesses.’’

Mobolurin said that if all the people with brilliant ideas were to be enabled to start businesses, unemployment would be reduced.

He said the council had been working for about two years as it had a 10-year master plan to make Nigeria capital market competitive globally.

According to him, the council is working towards reforming the capital market in a way that will benefit the economy and then the citizens.

“The ultimate goal is to benefit the economy and society as a whole and therefore cannot do without government support and participation.

“Even though a market initiative has been started by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), and they provided the support; the secretariat and things like that, we think that from time to time we meet with other government officials to let them know what we are doing.

“It was a very good meeting. We found the meeting with the vice president today very encouraging,’’ he said .