Teaching gives me pleasure — Oscar Onyema

 

It was the day after the Nigerian Stock Exchange held its 54th Annual General Meeting in Lagos. The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, was still reeling with excitement over the former’s outing in the last financial year.

The NSE closed the year with its strongest growth in six years; generating a total income of N8.1bn and an operating profit margin of 50 per cent.

   He had just finished a series of speeches and interviews at the NSE Event Centre, seated in his expansive office; he exhibited a calm and confident demeanour.

Clearly impressed with the growth the NSE has witnessed, he said, “There were a lot of trading activities at the NSE. We also had significant listings that drove a lot of state bonds and rights issuances as well. It was a good year with regards to technology; market data, and everything came together brilliantly.”

While it may still be too early in the day to forecast what the results of the current financial year will read, the 46-year-old business executive is optimistic and at the same time objective.

“Given the realities on ground, it is going to be a very challenging year. 2014 was a blockbuster year but given that we are troopers, we are working very hard to see how close we can get to beating the records we have just set for ourselves,’’ he notes with a satisfied mien.

On what his expectations for 2015 are, Onyema, who is also the President of the African Securities Exchanges Association and a Global Agenda Council member of the World Economic Forum says, “2015 has been a very challenging year. Everything had been on a standstill during the build-up to the elections, waiting for the government to be formed and waiting for a policy direction.

“More importantly, we hope to get a good handle on the currency situation because our market is an international market with a lot of foreign activity. We will continue to work with domestic investors to make sure they continue to have confidence in the market.”

Since assuming office at the NSE in 2011, the frequent public speaker on market structure and data issues has been tasked with several responsibilities.

They include working with a focused business model and undertaking several strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring that the NSE achieves record revenues.

With the demutualisation of the exchange currently a work in progress, Onyema, who is the Chairman, West African Capital Market Integration Council, has this to say:

“We are very interested in the demutualisation of the NSE and we are working very hard to progress our demutualisation drive and very soon we will announce who our financial advisers are.”

An active participant in the Security Traders Association of New York, and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, one area Onyema appears fulfilled is the ongoing technology drive at the NSE.

“We have spearheaded the technology drive at the NSE especially since 2011 when we started the X-era campaign. We have been technology compliant ever since and this granted us enhanced access to the market.

“Technology has been an enabler; it has helped us achieve our core objectives which is to drive liquidities and have a market that supports all. X-Gen, for instance, is a new electronic trading platform that will allow stockbrokers and other stakeholders access the stock exchange market anywhere, anytime.

“It symbolises NSE’s untiring commitment to delivering a first rate technology platform that will enable our members build and grow their businesses, and the investing community experience a more efficient market when they buy and sell securities,” he explained.

Prior to his current role, the throughbred professional in the true sense of the word, had served in the United States financial markets for over 20 years, managing market structure initiatives, products and securities exchange businesses as well as the Nigerian information technology sector.

Despite boasting an intimidating resume, the business-savvy executive remains humble and almost unassuming. He served as the Senior Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer at American Stock Exchange. The first black to assume the position, he also positioned it as a premier market for small and mid-capatilised securities.

He recalls, “I held various positions at The New York Mechantile Exchange where I managed futures market structure initiatives; and Data Processing Maintenance and Services Ltd, an IBM business partner, where I sold IBM mid-range system solutions.”

He holds an MBA in Finance and Investments from Baruch College, New York City and had earlier bagged a degree in Computer Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University.

An art aficionado and a strong proponent for alternative investments in arts, Onyema is bothered about the inherent potentials that exist in the Arts but that are yet to be fully explored. According to him, despite the revenue generated from a plethora of art auctions within and outside the country, many have yet to see arts as an alternative investment.

Little wonder he is spearheading a revolution of some sorts in this regard.

“The NSE supports the concept of diversification in the arts and appreciate the work of arts that are available in Nigeria. We want to support the sector so, we have built up different collections whilst we continue to keep our eyes open to make sure that the pieces we are acquiring also have market value along the line.

“We have a generous amount of Nigerian and African arts, in my office. Works by the likes of Bruce Onobrakpeya, Nike Davies-Okundaye and the now deceased Prince Twins Seven-Seven adorn the NSE simply because we appreciate Nigerian art,” he said.

Buttressing his points, he notes that visual arts have the prospect to create wealth. “Arts collecting has gone beyond mere appreciation for its aesthetic value, but is now more than ever before considered as an investment. Even when political, fiscal and economic headwinds buffet world economies, arts retains its value,” he added.

A former adjunct lecturer of Economics at Pace University, New York, where he taught for five years, Onyema, still considers himself a teacher in many ways. So, does he miss being in the classroom?

“I never taught full-time as an adjunct professor because at the time, I also had a full-time job. Teaching gives me pleasure and helps me learn. The problem now is that my job is so stressful and demanding that I do not find the time to have that kind of formal teaching opportunity somewhere but we do have teaching opportunities here every day at the NSE.

An avid reader, the widely travelled CEO, is not just about work alone. Indeed, he does find time to cool off, especially when he is not wearing the leadership toga.

A fine and classic dresser, his leisure itinerary is quite interesting. “I relax by engaging in a lot of interesting things. I ski, scuba dive, use the gym, run and swim. I also love the arts, travelling, good music and good wine, he said beaming with a smile.

Onyema is not afraid to share the lofty ideas and plans he has for NSE.

As he looks far ahead into the future, he hopes to leave an indelible mark at the NSE.

“I hope to build a very strong institution that will be a credible source of raising capital and driving economic growth for Nigeria and Africa at large,” he concluded.